Ft. Lauderdale, FL— After the announcement of the first ever National Middle School Quarterback Invitational, several members of the youth football community approached Football Hotbed and inquired about an event for lineman.
That’s right, offensive and defensive lineman in grades 6th, 7th and 8th. The feeling most had were that lineman were overlooked and never got an opportunity to show their talents. In general, lineman don’t have many showcase events in the off season at the middle school level, if any at all. There are however, a plethora of camp choices.
It also doesn’t help that lineman miss opportunities to get better during the off season at the Junior High level, in comparison to their skill player counter parts, not being able to participate in events like 7 on 7.
Many lineman turn to other sports like basketball, wrestling and other activities to keep their competitive edge and continue to train in the off season, furthering their continual development as football players. But there’s only so much training you can do. After a while, you need a measuring stick for your progress. That’s when Hotbed stepped up to create a platform for competition.
Middle School lineman, look no further.
We formally announce the first ever Middle School Lineman challenge for Offensive Lineman (tackle, guards and center) and Defensive Lineman (Nose, Ends and Tackles) will be held May 30th at Cardinal Gibbons High School beginning at 9 AM with registration. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Our goal is to provide a platform upon which youth athletes can compete against the best in the country, get better and measure their progress. With the advent of grade and age based football taking over in the youth ranks and the increasing popularity and presence of middle school football, there are more skilled lineman at the junior high level than ever before.
Football Hotbed has assembled an incredible list of coaches to facilitate the first ever challenge.
On the offensive side of the ball, Michael ‘Chop’ Ross of the Miami Central Rockets, winners of three consecutive state championships in Florida’s 6A class, will serve as our head OL coach. Coach Ross has tutored over a dozen division one athletes and several pros. Prior to arriving at Miami Central, he coached at Miami Northwestern, winning two state championships. He owns six state title rings respectively and is considered one of the best offensive lineman coaches in the country.
His 2014 lineman class all play division one football:
Trevor Darling: University of Miami
Michael Scott: University of South Florida
Raul Diaz- Tulane University
Reginald Bain- Florida Atlantic University
Joshua Addison- Florida A&M
He will be assisted by George Stubbs, a former coach at Hialeah High School where he tutored Corey Lemonier formerly of the Auburn Tigers and currently with San Francisco 49ers and current Wake Forrest lineman A’Lique Terry. Stubbs is currently the Offensive Coordinator of Hillel Jewish Community School going 7-4 in his first season as a play caller.
On the defensive side of the ball, Pierre Senatus who currently serves as the head coach of the Miramar High School Florida 8A program, will be our head coach. He comes to Miramar after a very successful tenure at national power, Booker T. Washington out of Miami. There he served as the defensive line coach and associate Head Coach. Senatus worked with one of the more successful defenses in the history of the state of Florida and his team went undefeated and won both state and a mythical national championship in 2013 garnering a first place raking in ever national high school human poll in the country.
Some of Senatus’ pupil’s include current defensive lineman at the University of Miami, Chad Thomas and Demetrius Jackson. He also mentored Florida State’s Matthew Thomas.
Joining Senatus on the defensive side of the ball is one of the most successful youth football coaches in south Florida, Rich Jospitre. He’s currently the commissioner of the Miami Gardens Chiefs of the Florida Youth Football League and comes to that post from Pembroke Pines Optimist where he won multiple league titles in the American Youth Football League. He’s known as a very intelligent defensive mind and coached some of the best south Florida talent during his tenure including Jon Beason (NY Giants), Calvin and Cavin Ridley (Monarch High), James Cook and Nayqan Wright just to name a few.
Jospitre and Stubbs are also semi-pro teammates on one of the nation’s most successful teams, the Magic City Bulls, based in Miami, FL.
How will the challenge work?
The lineman challenge will test middle school athletes ability in several different areas:
A.Agility
B. Toughness
C. Quickness
D. Technique
E. Scheme (the science of the game)
Offensive players and defensive players will compete against each other in various drills during the day and near the conclusion, the best lineman from each side will be selected in order to compete against the opposing side. Scores will be tabulated throughout the day and trophies will be awarded to the ‘Best lineman’ per grade and all participants will receive Football Hotbed gear.
To register for the lineman challenge CLICK HERE. For more information about the challenge, email us at info@footballhotbed.com
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