Many young athletes have one dream in mind. Make it to a US National Team and compete at the Olympics. With the crowd roaring and the adrenaline pumping, the feeling is unmatched. Unfortunately, only 1 in every 500,000 youth athletes get to experience this. At 16, North Penn Sophomore, Tessa Wieloch has defied these odds accomplishing the first goal, and is well on her way to the next.
Being a 2-time US U-17 Flag Football National Team player, Wieloch is no stranger to competition, but flag football wasn’t her first love.
“When I was 5 my parents bought me skates for Christmas, so I went with it. I [figure skated] for 6 years when a girl recommended I try REC for flag football. I had enjoyed playing at recess, but I never thought I would get this into it. [Before this] I had never done a team sport,” Tessa Wieloch stated. “I didn’t start flag football until 6th grade.”
Although she started older than others, she quickly made an impact on the field.
“I started with REC and my coach wanted me to try the tournament [team],” Wieloch explained. “[That] first year we went up to Boston and we qualified for nationals and that’s where it took route.”
From there, she continued to excel, getting recognized by scouts and eventually making it to the national stage.
“[I played] on the U-17 National Team in both 2023 and 2024. We had two tryouts: National Team Trials where you do a lot of testing, like the 40-yard dash and the second was more mental practice, like offense and defense [specific drills]. Through those two practices, they went from 36 to 18, then down to 12 who got to play. I was one of them.,” Wieloch stated.
“The first year, we played in Charlotte, North Carolina the second we played in San Diego, California both times against six teams,” Wieloch continued.
While she accomplished one of her goals by playing for the National Team, Tessa has her mind set on even bigger goals.
“I have goals for the future. I really want to go to the Olympics because [flag football] just became an Olympic sport for 2028. So if I could do that it would be amazing,” Wieloch explained. “The thought of that is pushing me.”
From a young age, Tessa has had her mind set on these goals, but not quite in this manner.
“When I was younger, [teachers] would pass out the “what do you want to do when you grow up” papers and I used to write I wanna go to the Olympics,” Wieloch explained. “ I was planning for figure skating, but now that I’m almost 16 and I am starting to think about my future, I think that’s a possibility for [flag football] instead.”
The Olympics aren’t her only goal, however. Tessa also hopes to leave a lasting impression on those who follow in her footsteps.
“While the Olympics is a really big deal to me, I want people to look up to me. I want to be Carly Lloyd for some people that they look up to and be like Wow I want to be like her, I want to train like her, I want to have the motivation like her. I want to be that for women and girls especially in a male-dominated sport, like football.”
These goals don’t just get accomplished overnight, but instead through countless hours of work behind the scenes.
“[My motto is] to do one thing every day that makes you better,” Wieloch stated. “Progress is never going to be completely linear. It’s not just going to keep going up and up, you’ll have bad and good days. But if you do one thing every day, you’ll never go backward. My dad and I try to do it [together]. Whether we do core workouts, 100 catches, or Physical Therapy, he really motivates me to get going.”
“It’s the things you do alone that are harder to do, but my goals keep me going,” Wieloch continued.
While most of the improvements occur when she’s alone, Wieiloch attributes a lot of her success to those around her.
“[I] attribute my success to my coaches and other players,” Wieloch explained. “Playing on a tournament team, the people there really push me to want to be better and do better for them. When I see their successes or them doing well and their goals, I want to help them get to where they’re going as they’ve helped me get to where I’m going. I have had a great experience with my teammates and coaches and I really think they made me love the game as much as I do.”
As Tessa says, progress is not always linear, but she has figured out a way to overcome the obstacles presented before her.
“There definitely are obstacles,” Wieloch stated. “Mostly people saying you can’t do this or you’re too short, which yes I am 5’4, but there are always going to be people that try to hold me back and I have just have to push through.”