By Connie Wardman

Tyler Foerster is a man of many talents, just one of which happens to be football. While football is Foerster’s current passion, he’s played multiple sports, including basketball, dodgeball, kickball, softball, soccer and more. He most recently served as commissioner of the San Diego American Flag Football League (SDAFFL) and competed in the 2018 Gay Games in Paris.

This year Foerster is spending Pride Month in Palm Springs working on his many art projects. Earlier this month he donned a t-shirt to support the KindRED Pride Foundation. Their mission is to get one million people to wear red  the first Saturday in June.

Foerster has been involved in the National Gay Flag Football League (NGFFL) for 11 years, and not just as a player. He has coached for four years and has also been on several tournament committees as he makes his way up the NGFFL ladder.  “I plan to be involved with this league for a long time so the sky’s the limit,” he says.

He has player on several NGFFL teams, but Foerster knows how special the Bolts are, first realizing that when he saw them compete in Denver Gay Bowl XII. “The athleticism complied on this squad is truly amazing but even more important is the camaraderie between team members,” he said.

Claiming that the SDAFFL is more like his family, Foerster admits that he really roots for the players on the other teams representing San Diego just as much as his own Bolts.

That dedication to San Diego by was long ago confirmed when the former Chicago-resident commuted to San Diego every week from the Windy City to play an entire 12-week season in the SDAFFL. And it was that commitment that landed Foerster a coveted spot on the Bolts.

Badly injured in February 2015 during Fort Lauderdale’s Sunshine Cup, he could have spent his off-time concentrating on his recovery. But instead of being just a sideline player, Foerster volunteered to coach a team, all while wearing a cast and using crutches. He was honored. a 2015 Compete Sports Diversity Award for his work in sports diversity.

Foerster is more than just an NGFFL player, coach and tournament organizer. His love of sports goes beyond his commitment to flag football. He has developed a scoreboard system called the U.S. Gay Sports Network (USGSN). The USGSN began with a simple concept: keeping the scores of all LGBT-affiliated sports leagues in North America. S

In addition to his work at USGSN, Foerster has a very busy life outside of flag football. He enjoys traveling, seeing new places and meeting new people. He also has a passion for photography, film, web design, painting and computer graphics. Most importantly, he enjoys spending quality time with his family, his partner of nine years and close friends.

Photos by Tyler Foerster