Athletes took part in many different drills during the four-day Maryland Middle School Football Combine at Lake Waterford Park in Pasadena but the 7-on-7 drill was the most popular.
Archbishop Spalding coach Mike Whittles shows his MIAA B Conference championship ring to athletes at the combine. The Maryland Middle School Football Combine attracted over 150 players from across Maryland and the surrounding states.
(See video clips and interviews below)Education and academics were the overlapping themes at the four-day Maryland Middle School Football Combine at Lake Waterford Park in Pasadena and every local high school coach that came to speak to the athletes had a different way of conveying the message.
"The day of the dumb jock is over,"
Archbishop Curley High School assistant coach Rocco Bruno said.
Said Donny English, the director of the combine: "We're building student-athletes here. You can't play football if you don't have the grades and we're instilling that in their minds."
About 13 area coaches and recent high school graduates spoke to a group that grew to over 150 athletes over the four days. Parents sat on the sidelines in the shade while 8th, 7th, 6th, and 5th graders from all over Maryland and the surrounding states sweated under the sun.
Each session started with a dynamic warm-up and stretch, which was run by trainers from
Athletic Performance Inc. In between 10-minute speeches from local coaches, the athletes also broke into smaller groups to work on offensive and defensive position fundamentals under the watchful eye of 20 combine coaches. Hitting, tackling and speed drills were set up while the 7-on-7 games were a crowd favorite.
Athletes were also measured by the NIKE SPARQ training system and got individual ratings in the 10- and 40-yard dash, pro agility, vertical jump and power ball toss. The scores are used to measure progression and improvement leading up to their upcoming high school playing careers and beyond.
The ratings are a great way to gauge the athletes but high school coaches that attended the event preferred to keep tabs on the talent with their own eyes.
"This is a great venue for these young men," said
Archbishop Splading coach Mike Whittles, who has led the Cavaliers to three straight MIAA B Conference championship appearances. "While other kids their age may be in the swimming pool right now or even sleeping, these guys are out here trying to improve. There's some awesome kids out here."
No strangers to summer football camps, Whittles and the other private school coaches at the combine kept their heads on a swivel. Future standouts were among the group and Whittles said that if it was up to him, he'd like to have every player there in a Spalding uniform in the coming years.
"They are practicing football and we're not even into July yet," he said. "I'd love to have all these kids one day."
Building new relationships by playing with other players from around the area stuck out to
St. Frances coach Mike Clay, another speaker at the combine.
"What's so great about camps like this is that the players get to meet so many new faces instead of the main group of kids they grew up with," said Clay, who will start up the
football program at St. Frances this fall. "That's where the sportsmanship comes in. When you start meeting kids from other teams and other programs, it just builds. That's what football is all about: coming together."
English is the coach of the Pasadena Chargers recreation team and has directed several summer camps. This was the first year for the Maryland Middle School Football Combine but Simpson said that the final result has been good and would like to expand on the camp next year.
"We had some great speakers and I really appreciate them taking their time to come out and talk the kids," English said.
"I want these kids to dream. I want them to see the coaches watching them and see their shirt and want to be a star for them one day."