Indiana Preps | The State — Sports Business
Two established operators in Midwest 7v7 football are joining forces.
Elite 7evens and MidAmerica 7v7 have entered a strategic partnership designed to create a more connected competition network for boys 7v7 and girls flag football across the Midwest and an expanding group of markets beyond it.
The partnership will include collaborative events, greater alignment between tournament schedules and a push toward standardized rules and operating practices across both brands.
The objective is larger than adding tournaments to a calendar. It is about creating consistency in a space that has grown quickly, but often without the same structure from one event to the next.
For athletes, clubs and coaches, the partnership creates more opportunities to move between established events without having to constantly adjust to different expectations, rules and tournament operations. For Elite 7evens and MidAmerica, it connects two organizations that arrived at this point from different eras of the sport.
Elite 7evens Helped Establish the Midwest 7v7 Market
Elite 7evens predates much of the current 7v7 ecosystem.
The organization was established in Indiana in 2011 and describes itself as the originator of club 7v7 football in the state. What began as a regional offseason football platform eventually developed into a tournament series attracting teams from across the Midwest, other regions of the country and Canada. Its flagship Elite 7evens Invitational reached its 13th edition in 2026, continuing a tournament lineage that began before 7v7 had developed into the national offseason industry it is today.
That longevity is significant. Elite 7evens operated during a period when organized club 7v7 opportunities were considerably less common in the Midwest. Over time, its calendar expanded from Indiana into regional events, while its competition model widened to include younger age groups, girls competition and, more recently, 5ive Flag. The brand now operates boys 7v7 alongside girls 7v7 flag and 5-on-5 flag formats, with events scheduled across multiple states.
That history gives Elite 7evens one side of the new partnership: an established tournament identity, a long-standing club network and more than a decade of experience operating in the Midwest.
MidAmerica Grew From Iowa Into a Regional Network
MidAmerica’s roots are newer, but its expansion has been substantial.
The organization traces its history to 2018, when three Iowa high school programs participated in the inaugural Playmaker Iowa Elite Tournament. Iowa 7v7 Football was formally established as a nonprofit in 2019 before eventually expanding and rebranding under the MidAmerica 7v7 name. What began with a localized Iowa tournament series developed into a broader regional operation.
MidAmerica now describes itself as a year-round tournament, league and event operator for boys 7v7 and girls flag, with boys divisions ranging from 10U through 18U and girls divisions from 14U through 18U. Its 2027 tournaments are listed in markets including Texas, Nebraska, Indiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota and Colorado.
The organization’s emphasis has increasingly centered on scale and standardization. Its published operating model highlights standardized rules, consistent tournament administration and a regional network intended to give clubs repeatable competition opportunities rather than disconnected individual weekends.
That approach is now being connected directly to Elite 7evens.
MidAmerica 7v7 Adds Another Established Event Portfolio
MidAmerica’s growth also includes the recent addition of the MoKan 7v7 event portfolio, according to information provided by the organization.
MoKan had developed its own recognizable tournament footprint across Kansas and Missouri. Its event history includes the Capital City Showdown in Topeka, Border Wars in the Kansas City area, the Little Apple Shootout in Manhattan and the MoKan National Championship.
Those events were not small local one-offs. The 2026 Border Wars event advertised more than 100 teams from 12 states in its previous edition, while the Little Apple Shootout reached its fifth year and included divisions from 10U through 18U. MoKan also operated girls flag divisions alongside traditional boys 7v7 competition. Its High School 7v7 State Championships created competition specifically for Kansas and Missouri varsity programs, including a girls flag division.
The MoKan portfolio gives MidAmerica another established cluster of events in a market where both brands already have connections. It also makes the new partnership less theoretical. There is already history between the organizations.
Turf Wars Showed What Collaboration Could Look Like
Elite 7evens and MoKan previously collaborated on Turf Wars in the Kansas City market.
The 2025 Turf Wars Midwest Regional was jointly promoted by Elite 7evens and MoKan Sports and featured boys divisions from 10U through 18U along with girls competition. Winners received opportunities tied to both organizations’ championship events.
That partnership became a proof of concept. Rather than operating in parallel, two tournament brands could combine networks, teams and infrastructure around one event. MidAmerica and Elite 7evens are now taking that idea further.
The Partnership Starts With Six Events
The collaboration is not waiting for a future calendar.
The group will continue Turf Wars in Kansas City, Mo., on March 6-7, 2027, marking the third year of the collaboration. The event drew more than 170 teams in 2026, and organizers anticipate more than 200 in 2027.
Around it, the partnership includes three existing events that remain individually owned but will be jointly operated, and three new joint-venture events in new markets.
Existing events: individually owned, jointly operated
Events
Turf Wars Kansas City, Mo. March 6-7
T-Town Showdown Tulsa, Okla. March 20-21
Back 2 Ballin HS Cedar Falls, Iowa April 17-18
New joint-venture events in new markets
Events
The Texas Takeoff Dallas January 23-24
Ozark Stampede Bentonville, Ark. April 3-4
The Champions Cup Kansas City, Mo. April 10-11
The new events matter as much as the existing ones. Dallas and Bentonville put the partnership into markets neither brand has anchored before, and The Champions Cup gives Kansas City a second joint event, one month after Turf Wars.
That is the practical meaning of the partnership. A club that plays Turf Wars in March can follow it with a joint event in Kansas City in April, with the same rules, and travel to Tulsa, Dallas or Bentonville without relearning how the weekend works.
“We’re excited to continue building our partnership with Elite7s,” MidAmerica 7v7 General Manager Tyler Wendland said. “The success of Turf Wars has shown what we can accomplish by working together, and we look forward to bringing more collaborative events to the 7v7 community.
“One of the biggest benefits of this partnership is aligning our rules, creating much-needed consistency for clubs, coaches, and athletes competing across different tournaments. We believe working together to establish common standards is a major step forward in growing the game and improving the overall 7v7 experience.”
That rules component may ultimately be one of the most consequential parts of the partnership.
The Problem Is Not Opportunity. It Is Consistency.
7v7 football does not suffer from a lack of events. The larger issue has often been fragmentation.
Club programs can move from tournament to tournament and encounter different rule interpretations, roster requirements, age standards, game procedures, officiating expectations and event operations. The sport has grown faster than its infrastructure. That creates opportunity. It also creates inconsistency.
Elite 7evens founder Harvey Scruggs believes the next stage of growth requires operators to address that.
“The growth of 7v7 has created tremendous opportunity for athletes and clubs, but the space is still fragmented,” Scruggs said. “Teams should not have to guess what level of organization, communication or competition they are going to receive every time they travel to an event.
“For this space to continue growing, there has to be professional leadership and more structure behind it. Elite 7evens and MidAmerica share that vision. We want to bridge the gap for clubs looking for professionally operated, quality events with consistent standards, strong competition and an experience they can trust from one market to the next.”
That is the larger bet behind the partnership. Not that two brands can simply produce more events. That they can make the experience between those events more connected.
Girls Flag Changes the Scale of the Opportunity
The timing also coincides with one of the fastest expansions in American high school sports.
Girls flag football participation increased from 68,847 athletes in 2024-25 to 102,360 in 2025-26, a 48.7 percent increase in one year, according to the NFHS. The sport has now entered the national top 10 for girls high school participation. The long-term growth is even more significant. Only 15,716 girls participated nationally in 2021-22. Four years later, participation had surpassed 102,000. Flag football will also make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, while high schools and colleges continue adding competitive opportunities.
That growth has changed the offseason marketplace. A tournament structure built almost entirely around boys skill-position football several years ago now has to account for a rapidly developing girls game with its own clubs, recruiting pathways and competition demands.
Both Elite 7evens and MidAmerica have already begun doing that. Elite 7evens lists girls competition alongside its boys events and has expanded into 5ive Flag. MidAmerica includes girls flag divisions within its tournament structure and describes girls competition as a core part of its year-round platform. The partnership gives those efforts a larger shared network.
A More Connected Calendar
For clubs, the practical benefit is straightforward. More established events. More geographic options. More continuity.
Teams that compete in Indiana can now have clearer pathways into Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and other MidAmerica markets without feeling as though each tournament exists in isolation. MidAmerica teams gain the same access into Elite 7evens’ established Indiana and regional footprint.
The collaboration is expected to include both boys 7v7 and girls flag competition, while each organization continues operating its own brand and events. What changes is the connectivity between them. Common standards. Shared event opportunities. Coordinated markets. And a wider competition network.
The Sport Is Entering a Different Phase
For years, growth in 7v7 was largely measured by how many teams showed up and how many tournaments could be added.
The next phase may be measured differently. How professionally are those events operated? How consistent are the rules? How easy is it for clubs to plan a season? How well are athletes and families served when they travel? And can operators create a structure that grows alongside girls flag rather than trying to retrofit it later?
Elite 7evens and MidAmerica believe those questions are becoming as important as the competition itself.
One organization brings roots dating to 2011 and a place in the early development of Midwest club 7v7. The other brings a rapidly expanding regional network and an event portfolio stretching across multiple states. Together, they are trying to create something the sport has often lacked.
Continuity.
For teams accustomed to navigating a fragmented offseason landscape, that may be the most important part of the announcement.
Disclosure: Elite 7evens founder Harvey Scruggs is also the founder of Indiana Preps. Information via Elite 7evens, MidAmerica 7v7, MoKan 7v7 and the NFHS. Indiana Preps covers high school athletics, recruiting, and athlete development across the state of Indiana.
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