Saturday lights and the Wasatch Passing League

Photo: Neighbors of the Wasatch Back // Sarah Severson.

Tara and Tucker Cannon had lived in Heber Valley for just a few months when the previous owner of the nonprofit Wasatch Passing League (WPL) approached them about running the league. “We knew hardly anyone in town, but I met some dedicated football dads through my boys’ tackle leagues, and they were a huge help in getting us started,” Tucker says.

The Cannon family—Tara, Tucker, Cash (13), and Cruz (11)—moved from Newport Beach, California, to Midway about two-and-a-half years ago. Their roots in Heber Valley, however, run much deeper than that. Tucker lived in Salt Lake City until age 10, when his family moved to California, but he returned to Utah every summer to spend time at his grandparents’ cabin in the foothills overlooking Midway. “The Heber Valley’s slower pace and access to outdoor recreation was what made us decide to make the move here,” Tucker shares.

Tara and Tucker have built careers anchored in supporting kids. Tara teaches third grade for a California-based online charter school. Tucker is a social worker with the Park City School District, serving both students directly and in a program development capacity; he also runs a private practice outside of school hours. They view managing Wasatch Passing League as an expression of who they are, both professionally and personally. “My family is a football family,” Tara says. “Our two sons began playing flag football at age five. And Tucker coached them through flag football and now coaches youth tackle football in Heber Valley.”

As a mental health professional, Tucker considers the Wasatch Passing League a way to counter the many technology-related challenges kids are contending with. “It’s harder to be a kid now than it ever has before,” he says. “Kids are more sedentary than they ever have been. Wasatch Passing League gives kids a chance to get outside and get sweaty and socialize and, most importantly, have fun.”

With a seven-week season running in April and May, Wasatch Passing League is a no-contact, five-versus-five flag football league open to both boys and girls in grades 1 to 8—no experience is necessary. “A passing league is different from flag football in that the scoring happens on just one side of the field,” Tara explains. The Cannons were deeply involved in Southern California’s youth football culture, so when the opportunity arose for them to play a pivotal role in giving Heber Valley the same joy and community that football had given them in Newport Beach, they jumped at the chance. “The relationships and friendships we’ve formed during each season have a lasting and meaningful impact on both us and our kids,” Tara says.

The Cannons point to Wasatch Passing League’s very active and involved board as not only lending them the vital support when they took over the league, and now as they are growing it, but also providing connections into the greater Heber Valley community. “The board really makes the Wasatch Passing League possible,” Tucker says. “People like Ben Fogg, Dom Anderson, Cody Jensen, and Kaci and Todd Kelly. They really helped Tara and I get this thing going. And this year, we added additional board members, like Derek Kohler, who’s been a huge support as well.”

Before the Cannons took over the league in 2024, WPL had around 100 kids enrolled, and games were played on Sundays. “The league was formatted after the Park City Passing League, where they play on Sundays. But we knew the Sunday gameday was keeping the league from growing in the Heber Valley. So, we switched the gamedays to Saturdays, which more than doubled enrollment,” Tara says.

Another contributor to WPL’s growth over the past year, the Cannons say, was to open registration to girls, in addition to boys. “We had five girls in 2025, and this year, we had three girls-only teams, or 19 girls who played,” Tara notes. “We saw how all-girls flag football teams grew in California and knew it could happen here. The girls’ teams play against the boys’ teams, and as soon as we opened registration up to girls, and people saw them playing, parents started calling me.” As a result, in 2026, WPL’s player roster swelled to 320, and with a waitlist.

In fact, strong interest in girls’ football is already happening in Utah. WPL’s expansion to girls’ teams coincided with the formation of the state’s first all-girls flag football league in the fall of 2025. The Utah High School Girls Football Association now spans 16 teams across the state, including teams at Wasatch and Park City high schools.

A unique aspect of WPL is that Wasatch High School tackle football players serve as the league’s coaches, while players from other high school sports are hired to referee games. “The league gives them the opportunity to mentor and nurture the sport’s next wave of local players,” Tucker says.

The mentorship that develops between WPL’s coaches and players is the source of one of Tara’s favorite memories so far of being a part of Wasatch Passing League. “Last year, when Cash was in sixth grade, he scored a game-winning championship touchdown for his team in the last 30 seconds of his game. His coach, a wonderful high school tackle-football player, ran 50 yards at full sprint towards the end zone to pick up my 115-pound, five-foot-seven-inch-tall 12-year-old and swing him around. What a meaningful experience for any child to have a coach that believes in you and celebrates your achievements like that,” Tara says.

“Another experience I’ll never forget happened during Wasatch High School’s 2025 Homecoming game,” she recalls. “Youth tackle-football players, including my 10-year-old son, Cruz, were allowed to be a part of the cheering tunnel on the field. After the high school players ran through the tunnel, Cruz ran right up to his Wasatch Passing League coach from the previous season and gave him a high-five and knuckles.”

Outside of providing a positive and rewarding environment for players and coaches, another aspect of the Cannons’ philosophy in managing WPL is making gamedays a touchpoint for the entire community. “Games are held at the Wright-Tree Stadium, where the high school tackle-football team plays, and during [Wasatch Passing League] games, we run concessions and play music. We want games to be fun for the parents and grandparents who attend, too,” Tara says.

The Cannons’ dedication to the league seems to be paying off further down the Wasatch Back’s youth football pipeline. “After our first year, we saw how much Wasatch Passing League was adding football momentum to this community. Several of the players who participated in our league last spring moved on to Ute Conference [tackle] football in the fall,” Tara explains. “Our new slogan this year is ‘Growing the future of Wasatch football.’”

Registration for WPL’s 2027 season will be held on Saturday, February 6, 2027, through a link posted on wasatchpassingleague.com. Fees are $110 per child for seven weeks of games and coaching, plus one skills-assessment day. Also, scholarships are available. For the 2027 season, the Cannons are hoping to expand their play space to Heber City’s first new high school in 100 years, Deer Creek High School, scheduled to open in August 2026.

“Running a nonprofit along with working full-time and being a mom is no small feat for me,” Tara shares. “But we love our small-town football community here in Heber Valley and have experienced nothing but positive feedback and gained lifelong friendships. Our hearts are truly full through our football experiences here.”