How the Minnesota Gay Flag Football League Continues to Be the Change

Fresh out of college, Nikhil Enugula got turned down for a job. Believing the interview had gone well, he was caught off guard when he was informed that the job would not be a good fit for him.

Enugula was born in India, and he moved to the U.S. at a young age, where he later completed both his bachelor’s in accounting and his master’s in leadership. Now, he was being turned away from a job after a seemingly successful interview for a company he was excited to work for.

He recalls the director telling him, “You’re great, where you will get other jobs, but this is not for you.” Enugula remembers feeling confused.

“I was like, ‘But why? Like, what did I do wrong?’ Did I say something wrong? He said, ‘No. You were great. You gave such mature answers, but the thing is,’ he said, ‘it’s because you confuse people.’ … He said, ‘People understand gayness. They understand immigration. They understand people of color, and now you come in with all of this in one big identity, and now you are also dyslexic. This confuses people,” Enugula shares.

At the time, Enugula recalls being frustrated that he was being told that it was his responsibility to bridge the divide between himself and others. In retrospect, however, he is grateful to have gained this insight, as it has helped guide him along the way to helping others.

“I was mad at that day, but I look back and I’m very grateful that he gave me that feedback because that kind of became my lens of like, okay, I am weird in my own way, but at the same time, if I wanna make the change, I gotta build that,” Enugula explains. “You know, I can’t wait for people to come build it because people don’t know sometimes. Or even when people know they don’t know how to do that. … As leaders, we always forget our impact. We only think about our intentions.”

Taking this advice with him, Enugula has found himself working to be that change. Not only does he work professionally as a DEI director, but he also works as the commissioner for the Minnesota Gay Flag Football League (MNGFFL). As the commissioner, Enugula brings all his knowledge and passions together.

MNGFFL believes in creating pathways for systematically excluded and underrepresented people in sports. Formed in 2019 by Chris Lewellyn-Otten, who noticed there was no team in Minneapolis, the MNGFFL serves as an all-inclusive team with a focus on platforming members of the LGBTQ+ community as well as other marginalized groups.

In his role as commissioner, Enugula’s responsibility is to propose changes that ensure full representation. In order to do this, Enugula observes the organization from many different angles and offers insights as to where improvements can be made. Even with the active efforts for inclusivity that the team was founded on, there are still areas that could use improvement. Sometimes people are unaware of the different barriers that others face, and without accessing the situation from an outside lens, it can be difficult to resolve this.

Already, the MNGFFL has worked to change its voting system for board members so that people’s voices are being fully represented. Where previously board members were voted on by other members of the board, the new method allows everyone to have a vote. This change puts the power back into the hands of the people, and it opens the door of opportunity for other people to be voted in.

Furthermore, the board is working on changing its drafting process to allow for a fairer system. Previously, team captains were able to choose players via drafts. Now, however, the teams are justly assigned. In addition to this, they hope to teach people who have little to no experience in flag football how to play.

Creating these changes is something that allows the MNGFFL to continue to make progress both in the lives of their players but also in the community. Through these discoveries of inequity in sports, the MNGFFL can help restructure the system and educate marginalized groups in areas they have previously been excluded from, and hopefully educate other sports groups on how to implement the same changes.

“Every human. We all are human beings. We all hate change. Let’s not even care about that. We’re human beings. We hate change,” Enugula says. “But the thing is, especially being a queer league that wants to be the change, you can’t say I’m not for inclusivity or I’m for inclusivity only in a way that you understand. …What was stopping people to stand up was the access of information.”

The MNGFFL hopes to move into the fall season with the eight teams they have, continuing to grow in performance and diversity. To learn more about the team, or to donate or sponsor, visit its website at mngffl.com.