An Opportunity to Play College Football

DALLAS - Feb. 17, 2011 - A high school football coach's concern for his players runs deep, and that passion will be on display this weekend in Houston as 75 coaches from the Houston Independent School District (H.I.S.D.) hope to find an opportunity for their seniors to play at the next level.

Joining forces with the National Football Foundation Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter, the high school coaches are staging the Third Annual Greater Houston Senior Football Showcase February 19 at the Methodist Training Center, home of the Houston Texans. Recruiters from more than 40 small colleges will attend, providing 500 high school seniors a unique opportunity to earn academic and participation scholarships at the Division II, III and the NAIA levels.

"This started because we wanted to get the student-athletes in the Houston Independent School District a chance to go to college," said Milby High School head coach Philip Camp, a driving force behind the event. "This thing has taken off like a rocket, and it's going to all the best places that you can."

The event produced more than $3 million in scholarship its first year and $8 million last year, according to Coach Camp, and recruiters will travel from more 15 states this year, including Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.

"The best part of the event is that it's totally free to the players and the college coaches who are attending," said Chris Vaughan, a key organizer of the event and a board member of the NFF Touchdown Club of Houston Chapter. "In the Houston area, there are lot of kids who want to continue to play football and go to college, but there are not a lot of small colleges in the area, so it's a major expense for them to come here to recruit. By putting on an event like this, small college coaches can come and see 500 kids in one day. After last year's event, we knew that we were onto something good."

Daryl Wade, the former athletics director for the H.I.S.D. who now runs Astros' Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy, played a major role three years ago in helping to launch the showcase. Upon arriving at his former post, he found a system that produced a total of 32 football scholarships from the 24 schools in the district, far from adequate in his opinion. He joined forces with Coach Camp and others, and they came up with the idea of the showcase.

"When I first came to the Houston I.S.D., we saw the need to get more kids in college, and we felt like we had a lot of kids who could play at some level in college based on their grades and athletic ability," said Wade. "But a lot of our kids were not being seen by the small colleges because of tight recruiting budgets. We thought that they might take a look at our kids... It has been very successful as a joint effort of our coaches, the Houston Touchdown Club, and now the Houston Texans have gotten involved. So, I think it's going to be a great thing for many years to come."

"The Houston Texans are proud to team up with Houston I.S.D. and the Touchdown Club of Houston to provide the opportunity for talented and deserving student-athletes from the Greater Houston Area to benefit from such a great event," said Daniel Velasco, Houston Texans marketing manager. "We are happy to make an impact in our community by opening the doors to our facilities for student-athletes to showcase their skills and pursue their dream of higher education."

The Greater Houston Senior Football Showcase distinguishes itself from other camps and combines because the event is entirely free for the participants and colleges, and academic binders (verifying academic eligibility) are the only information distributed. Organizers do not create a database based on athletic performance of a participant at the event. Coaches must make their own athletic assessments, subsequently inviting a participant to the sidelines for a face-to-face meeting.

"It's become a big event. I think it's awesome for the kids in the area because a lot of the kids are going to go unnoticed," said Baker University (Kan.) head coach Mike Grossner, who will be attending again this year. "The Houston event allows me to get in and out in one day. What is so special about the event is that they are so well prepared. They have the young man's grades, test scores as well as his general athletic criteria. It allows coaches like me from schools with strong academic criteria to pinpoint an individual kid, talk to him, and watch him perform. It's a great day for us."

Participants, who all have to meet minimum academic standards, participate in a series of athletic events designed to let the college coaches assess each player's potential, including a 40-yard dash, a bench press, and several agility tests. Academically, participants must meet at least two of the three following criteria: a 1,000 on the SAT (math and verbal score) or a 21 on the ACT; a GPA of 2.5 or higher; or be ranked in the top half of his senior class.

"This event works because of the grades and SAT and ACT scores. That's what gets these kids into these schools," said Camp. "Yes, football is a big thing. Football is a tool, but it's not the driving force behind this. These are small colleges that want Texas football players who they know that they can take from an academic standpoint because their grades and SATs scores have been reviewed as part of the event."

In the time of tight budgets, the event allows smaller colleges to see 500 student-athletes at one time while minimizing their travel costs. The cost of the event is offset through sponsors, which includes Boar's Head, Frenchy's Chicken, the Houston Texans, the Promaxima Weight Company, and Velocity Sports Performance.

"One of the things that has always bugged me about combines and camps is that they say they provide kids exposure to colleges," said Vaughan "I always felt like people were taking advantage of parents and kids, and this was something that we felt we could do without having to charge anybody anything. We just want kids who want to go to college and play football to have a chance to be exposed."

Organized through the local coaching network, the chapter's relationships, letters to athletics directors, and Website postings, the event attracted 180 participants the first year and 398 attendees last year. The event will be capped at 500 participants this year because of insurance requirements, but the organizers have established a waiting list, which already has nearly 100 student-athletes in the queue. The event is not open to student-athletes who have already signed Division I letters of intent.

"Sixty-five to 70 percent of the participants will get some kind of offer from a college after attending this event," said Camp. "If you look at Texas Lutheran University, 18 kids on their roster are showcase alumni. Louisiana College has 12 guys on their roster who are showcase alumni. William Penn in Iowa has had 23 guys the last two years who are showcase alumni. So yes this works, and it works because you have a bunch of high school coaches in this town who want to see their kids succeed."

The Play It Smart program, the National Football Foundation youth mentoring program that has been in place for past seven years in Houston, has helped lay the foundation for the event. The 22 local Play It Smart academic coaches collect the SAT scores and transcripts for all of the participants, ensuring that each student-athlete meets the minimum requirements. The academic coaches also help the day of the event at the check-in desk and with the on-field drills.

"The best thing about the event is all of these scholarships are academic in nature," said Coby Rhoden, who handles registration and is the Play It Smart Academic Coach at Milby High School. "This helps us sell the point to our student-athletes throughout their high school career that you don't have to be the biggest and the fastest to play football in college. But if you work hard in the classroom you can still play football in college."

Participating colleges this year include Angelo State University (Texas); Avila University (Mo.); Baker University (Kan.); Belhaven University (Miss.); Bethany College (Kan.); Bethel College (Kan.); Concordia University (Mich.); Concordia University (Neb.); Dordt College (Iowa); East Texas Baptist University; Faulkner University (Ala.); Grand View University (Iowa); Greenville College (Ill.); Hardin Simmons University (Texas); Harding University (Ark.); Henderson State University (Ark.); Howard Payne University (Texas); Lindenwood University (Mo.); Louisiana College; McMurry University (Texas); Millsaps College (Miss.); Missouri Valley College (Mo.); Saint Joseph's College (Ind.); Southwest Baptist University (Mo.); Southwestern College (Kan.); Sterling College (Kan.); Sul Ross State University (Texas); Tabor College (Kan.); Texas A&M-Kingsville; Texas Lutheran University; University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas); University of Saint Mary (Kan.); Waldorf College (Iowa); Wayland Baptist University (Texas); Westminster College (Mo.); and William Penn University (Iowa).

"It does not mater what their background is or their athletic ability. If a high school senior comes out here, they are going to be seen by college coaches and have a shot to further their educations and play a little bit of football," said Camp. "Most of these kids have never been outside of I-610, let alone Houston, Texas. Now they're going to away to college. If they stay all four years and get their degree, that is fantastic. If they just go for a semester, how much does that broaden their horizon?"

One of the more active NFF chapters in the nation, the NFF Touchdown Club of Houston distributes more than $15,000 a year in scholarships and $20,000 a year in weight room equipment. The groups other activities include a robust speakers series and a wide range of events designed to honor the major contributors to the game of football in the region and the local student-athletes who excel on and off the gridiron.