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Ft. Lauderdale, FL— The first ever National Middle School Specialist is set to take place in Ft. Lauderdale, FL on Friday June 29th and Saturday 30th. The host school is St. Thomas Aquinas High School and the host hotel is the Courtyard by Marriott Ft. Lauderdale/Cypress Creek.
We’re excited about this game because we value every aspect of the game of football. Offense, defense and special teams. At the Middle School level, specialist are often overlooked. However, our goal is to foster competition and development for Middle School kickers, punters and long snappers that help them achieve their goals of playing in both high school, college and beyond. To do so, we have formulated a two-day national competition with a lot of the line.
First, each participant will be competing for the right to take home top honors in their respective classes. Eligible to competition in this year’s showcase are the 2020 class of rising 9th graders, the 2021 class of rising 8th graders, the 2022 class of rising 7th graders and the 2023 class of rising 6th graders.
Secondly, the rising 6th, 7th and 8th graders (in the fall of 2016) will all be eligible based on performance to earn an invitation to our 2016 Middle School All-American game to take place at St. Thomas Aquinas January 4th-7th in 2017. Each All-American roster will be made up of one kicker, punter and long snapper. So there are opportunities to earn a spot on our national platform. This year there is no registration fee to participate in our All-American game.
During our 2014 All-American game, the 8th grade game was decided by a field goal with less than 10 seconds left in the game. Check out the highlights:
And lastly, each participating specialist will receive a camp rating after participating in the competition letting the nation know about their performance and ability.
2021 K, Carter Davis a 2015 All-American from Plantation, FL
PAYMENT & REGISTRATION
Each participating athlete must register. Registration includes full combine gear (2 dri-fit shirts, shorts), sponsor giveaways, hydration and lunch on Friday only. All other meals are the responsibility of the player and their families. Families are also responsible for their own travel costs and lodging. Our host hotel, the Marriott Ft. Lauderdale/Cypress Creek located at 2440 West Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 is offering a rate of $99/night. To book, call the Hotel Front Desk at 954-772-7770. Mention ‘Hotbed Football’. The registration deadline is July 1st, 2016. FootballHotbed,com is a licensed media property of B. Green Media, Marketing and Management, LLC. Call Football Hotbed at 1-888-879-3396 with any questions or concerns.
SCHEDULE (for planning purposes, subject to change)
Friday July 29th 2016
9 AM- Registration
10 AM- On field stretching and kicking warm up
10:30 AM- Accuracy Competition (snappers through stationary tire)
11:30 AM- Individual work by Position (on Film)
12:30 PM- Lunch
1:00 PM – Media (Interviews, Group Pictures)
1:15: PM -Kicking on film
3:15 PM Distance Kicking Competition (snappers from FG distance, to punt)
4:00 PM Dismissal
Saturday July 30th 2016
9 AM- Check in
9:30 AM- Film Review
11:00 AM- Eliminator competition
12:00 PM Awards & Dismissal
MEDIA
2020 K Damian Chowaniec (Manhattan, IL), 2015 Middle School All-American Specialist MVP
2022 Will Bettridge, Won the 2015 Middle School All-American game Offensive MVP because he nailed an XP try to put his team ahead 7-6 with less than 2 mins. to play.
2020 P Kaleb Seybolt (Flemming Island, FL) at our All-American Game
Looking fwd to competing as a long snapper for rising seventh graders!