Coach Tom Bass brings more than 30 years of coaching experience to USA Football. Along with answering youth coaching questions, he also receives emails from young players. You can email the coach at NFLAskTheCoach@aol.com.
At the end of this month, starting on Saturday, June 27, eight teams from around the world will come together for the 2009 International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship.
The Championship competition games will all be played in the famed Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The stadium is adjacent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the same venue used by the NFL teams at the beginning of each NFL season.
This year the competition will bring together teams consisting of players 19 years of age and under for games to be played across eight days culminating with the Championship contest on July 5 at 1 p.m.
The schedule for the first day is as follows: Canada versus New Zealand at 10 a.m., Japan versus Germany at 1 p.m., Mexico versus Sweden at 4 p.m., and the final game of the day at 8 p.m. will feature the U.S. versus France.
The second round of games will be played on Wednesday, July 1. Day three games are on Saturday, July 4, with the final game to determine the champion on Sunday, July 5.
For those of you traveling to Canton, this will be a unique and once in a lifetime opportunity to see how the game is played by players from outside the U.S. and to see how they compete against the players from other nations and also against the U.S. team.
USA Football's Junior National Team, with head coach Chuck Kyle from Cleveland St. Ignatius High School, is made up of 45 former high school players from across the country. Kyle will be assisted by nine other coaches selected from outstanding high school football programs from different areas of the U.S.
The competition will be fierce and this will be an exciting time for the players to be a part of this very select football team, with each one having the honor and privilege to represent the United States.
For those of you that can make the trip - please try to do so. I am certain you will be surprised by the skill level of the players, enjoy the competition and pageantry of the games, plus have the opportunity to be exposed to many different cultures with only one common goal - winning football games.
Visit www.jwcfootball.com for more information about the games, the player rosters, the coaching staffs and ticket information. Don't pass up this opportunity to be a part of this historic event.
Keep your questions coming; I will be back with more questions and answers next week.
Coach Tom Bass
Coach Tom Bass, the technical writer and advisor for USA Football, is a 30-year NFL coach who has also authored several books, including "Play Football the NFL Way" - the first "how to" book ever authorized and published by the NFL. Coach Bass is happy to personally autograph his books to you. Book ordering information can be found on http://www.coachbass.com/.
