Westlake High School is the site where upwards of 150 Atlanta area youth football coaches will gather on April 18. In conjunction with the Atlanta Falcons, USA Football will hold a Coaching School there aimed at improving America's favorite sport at the grassroots level.
On hand to deliver some coaching insight and words of advice will be Chris Scelfo, who joined the Falcons as the tight ends coach in January 2008 after an impressive eight-year run at Tulane University.
Scelfo ranks second all-time in the program's history for most victories, having won 37 games during his tenure with the Green Wave. He also has 21 total years of coaching under his belt, which is where he will pull experiences from to share with the youth coaches in attendance.
"I coached at the University of Georgia and obviously have relationships with a lot of these coaches and went on and became the head coach at Tulane University, which is an institution that is very high on academics and character," Scelfo said. "Those are things that are going to be brought up in the talk with the coaches, how important that is for a college coach to go in and see that a young man has character and dignity."
The single-day coaching clinics are conducted by successful local high school and youth coaches. In order to provide coaches with the knowledge they need to make the game better for the players, coaches and parents involved, Coaching Schools feature classroom instruction along with rotating on-field stations focused on coaching theory, fundamentals and drills for every position and offensive/defensive chalk talks.
Also up for discussion are tips on practice planning, which can help a youth football coach organize the season and make the most of the time spent with players.
Scelfo has been able to witness first hand the impact that the game can have on people - the Louisiana native led the program at Tulane throughout the Hurricane Katrina disaster that affected so many in New Orleans. He can also appreciate the hard work these youth coaches put in and the dedication they have to better themselves on and off the field because his son just left the ranks of youth football as well.
"I have son that just came out of the youth program in the state of Georgia, and the fundamentals and techniques at that age are very important to have a strong foundation to carry them through high school," Scelfo said. "The knowledge that the youth football coaches have is tremendous in this state, and I'm just honored to be a part of it."
This is the second straight year that the Falcons have teamed up with the independent non-profit to host a Coaching School. The event at Westlake is one of 47 Coaching Schools scheduled for 2009 all across the country.
Click here to find out more information and register for the USA Football-Atlanta Falcons Coaching School.
