Prep football goes 7-on-7
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The quarterback snaps the ball to himself, then completes a short pass over the middle. Touchdown? Not quite. A defender got his hands on the receiver about a yard short of the goal line.
It's a scene you can find all over the country — a game of touch football on a hot summer afternoon. Only this game has referees. And yard lines. And a scoreboard.
This is 7-on-7 football, the high school gridiron's answer to summer league basketball and one that appears to be growing across the country. It gives quarterbacks and receivers a chance to sharpen their skills — and it gives coaches, parents, sponsors and even recruiting experts more time around these young athletes in what might pass for the offseason.
"We keep 'em busy. If you're not working, you're getting behind," said Kevin Kelley, the coach at the private Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, who helped organize a tournament that included 24 teams from Louisiana and Texas.
That type of travel is hardly unusual. This month, in fact, Hoover, Ala., is hosting the National High School Coaches Association National Select 7-on-7, which last year included teams from as far away as Pennsylvania and Utah. This year's event will include 32 teams, whittled down from about 200 after qualifying tournaments. Nike is one of the sponsors.
Events like this have become commonplace in the football-crazy South, but this is hardly a regional phenomenon. Rob Cuff, executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association, estimates at least half the prep football programs in his state participate in 7-on-7.
"I think it's grown considerably," Cuff said. "I think it's kind of the thing to do right now in the summer, especially for your skill-position people."
For many high school players, football is almost a year-round activity and the 7-on-7 circuit exemplifies how organized offseason regimens have become. Pulaski Academy, for example, also participates in 7-on-7 league play, besides the tournaments.
"Timing with the receivers, getting routes down — it helps during the regular season," said Brandon Allen, a quarterback at Fayetteville (Ark.) High School.
The University Interscholastic League, which sets policy for most high schools in Texas, has a rule limiting what high school coaches can do during 7-on-7 tournaments. They can't coach or be "interacting with them," said Mark Cousins, director of policy at the UIL.
But there's no rule saying coaches can't show up and watch.
Baron Flenory, who played at the University of New Hampshire, helped start New Level Athletics in 2006. The group hosts camps and clinics for basketball and football, and the 7-on-7 games feature what amount to all-star teams of top players from around the country.
The idea is to allow high school players to show off for recruiting analysts and improve their prospects. Flenory, it so happens, also works for Scout.com.
The scene has been compared to AAU basketball because players are away from their high school teams. Flenory doesn't necessarily shy away from that comparison.
"To me, I think it helps kids get scholarships," Flenory said. "That's the big thing for me."
