It's time to get a head start and be a step ahead of the competition next season.
This is the message that Ben Narramore preaches when recruiting youth players to attend the USA Football Player Academy in San Diego. Narramore also serves as a commissioner in the Palomar Pop Warner Football Conference and is a USA Football commissioner and coach member.
One team in the conference followed his advice before the 2009 season.
"Before the season even started, we got together and talked about what we wanted to do because I had a lot of players coming back from the season before," Ramona Pop Warner Jr. Midget Guard Dawgs head coach Jason McGhee said. "I told them if you guys want to get better, you need to attend those camps and stuff because those camps help out quite a bit because you get a lot of one-on-one teaching."
The 12- to 14-year-old Guard Dawgs were the most highly represented team at the Player Academy with 11 players attending. They used the opportunity to build their team unity before the season even began.
"It was more of a bonding experience for the team," said Narramore, whose son Jordan was the first of the Guard Dawgs to sign up. "My son talked to the other players and said, 'Hey we've got this great opportunity at this camp in San Diego,' and they kind of used it as a bonding experience or that first step of becoming a team. That also helped. They got a head start on everyone."
The head start at the Player Academy marked the beginning of a fruitful 2009 campaign for the Guard Dawgs. They blew through the regular season with a torrid offense and relentless defense for a 6-0-1 record and Avocado League Championship. They continued their perfect season through the playoffs and won the Palomar Conference Championship.
With a chance to advance to the Pop Warner Super Bowl tournament in Florida on the line, the Guard Dawgs finally lost in the semifinals of the Wescon Regionals. As a consolation, they were invited to play in and won the "Best of the West" game, which features the best teams from the West that did not advance to the Super Bowl. McGhee gives the USA Football Player Academy credit for preparing his youngsters for a tremendous season.
"I would highly recommend the [Player Academies]," McGhee said. "It does two things. Number one, it gets the kids away from the video games and gets them out onto the fields. Number two, they're learning different techniques, and I think it brings them together as a team earlier on too."
Another successful team, the Murrieta Thunderhawks of the 14- to 15-year-old Midget division, rivaled the Guard Dawgs presence at the San Diego Academy by sending seven players. Like the Guard Dawgs, the Thunderhawks won their division's Palomar Conference Championship but lost in the Wescon Regionals.
The skills that the players learn and practice at the Academy included passing, pass catching, backpedaling, types of defenses, zone coverages and man-to-man, among others.
The defensive skills especially helped form the basis for the Guard Dawgs' stifling defense in 2009. Keyanis Crichlow, one of the team's best players, played on offense as a receiver and also ran the ball a bit. It was his play on defense, however, that really set him apart this year.
"His defensive back skills, I thought [the Academy] helped him out there a lot," McGhee said. "A lot of DBs are good at covering, but very few of them go up and actually contend for the ball. And Keyanis did a terrific job for us. We were able to put him out on an island by himself and play him man-to-man. Every game we stuck him against the best wide receiver."
It is these specific position skills that the Player Academy looks to hone at the age of the Guard Dawgs. Narramore's son plays quarterback for the squad and developed at that position while at the Academy.
"Going through the Player Academy I think opened him up as a player," Narramore said. "He learned stuff that he wasn't aware of or wasn't at that level before, so it took him to that next level. And I think the Player Academy works well with those older kids on getting them to specialize in a position and teaching them the fundamentals of those positions."
The benefits of the Player Academies extend beyond the kids' youth football days. They are exposed to high school coaches for typically the first time at the camps.
"The coaching they received from high school coaching will impact them going to that next level as well," Narramore said. "They got to work with high school coaches and learn how they run their practices at a high school level, so it better prepares them for high school."
Most of the Guard Dawgs will be heading to high school next year, but the kids who will still be in eighth grade plan on returning to the San Diego Player Academy this summer. For other players and teams also looking to get a leg up on the competition for next year and the future, signing up for a USA Football Player Academy can be the first step in that direction.
"We've seen benefits from this Player Academy already in the short time we've been doing it," Narramore said. "The players, associations, and teams have benefited from the Player Academy, so it's a great opportunity."
Find a USA Football Player Academy near you and register today!
