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Camp gives players opportunity to compete during summer offseason
By Rick Duteau
Sun Sentinel Staff Writer
With regular team practices still weeks away, skill camps such as DITR have become a major asset for student-athletes to harness their skills while attempting to put themselves on the radar of college recruiters.
"We don't come from a school with any high-profile players, so it's good to face other teams and let them see how we match up," said Pembroke Pines Charter's Arthur Sousa. "It's not what school you come from here, it's just how you play."
For others, like Dillard's Wayne Lyons, the chance to simply play football during the summer offseason was more than enough incentive to attend.
"I just love to play football," said Lyons. "They give us the chance to play here and we're just taking advantage of it."
On Saturday, a total of seven local high school teams competed in the tournament: Pembroke Pines Charter, Hollywood Hills, Piper, Dillard, Performing Arts Christian Academy, Parkway Academy and the "Unknown Skins", a mixture of players combined from Cardinal Gibbons, Northeast, Stranahan and Boyd Anderson.
Oakland Park -
Local high school football student-athletes participated in the "Diamonds In The Rough" 7-on-7 Passing Tournament, Saturday, July 25th, at Northeast High.
DITR, a Florida athlete recruiting service in its second year, has held several camps this summer in an effort to help student-athletes stay mentally aware through the summer offseason. The program focuses on lesser known student-athletes trying to create better college opportunities for themselves.
"We are truly all about the kids," said DITR president Jason Beneby. "We contact schools to determine what their needs are and then funnel those kids to them. We put information out there however possible and it creates a better relationship with the recruiters."
Points were awarded for achieving first downs, scoring touchdowns and extra-points, and also for defensive interceptions. Teams alternated drives during a timed 12-minute quarter, and each squad played several exhibition contests before competing in a single-elimination bracket to determine the overall champion.
In the end, every matchup was decided by a narrow margin of victory and each team left with something positive to build off of heading into the 2009 season.
"We were ready for this; we've practiced so much already just to prepare [to face these teams]," said Performing Arts' Devon Foulkes, who had the winning touchdown in an exhibition win over Parkway Academy.
Performing Arts, a school in just its second year of existence, only began assembling a football program within the last few weeks. The tournament marked the team's first live competition.
"i've never really caught a pass like that before," admitted Foulkes.
The "Unknown Skins" ultimately prevailed with a 23-22 overtime victory over Hollywood Hills in the title contest.
Both teams traded scores during regulation, as Hollywood Hills' quarterback Robert Bender connected with Alvin Arnold and Reginald McKnight for scores, and Skins' quarterback Victor Manuel tossed two TD passes to Tim Taylor Jr. Manuel's extra-point pass to Denzel Wimberly forced overtime.
In the extra period, Manuel connected again with Wimberly for the go-ahead score. The drive was kept alive on a pass-interference play that also gave the Skins an important additional point. Manuel Lopez hit McKnight for a touchdown on Hollywood Hill's first play of overtime, but the extra-point attempt failed to end the tournament.
"Everything depended on that last play and we stopped them," said the Skins' Jarael Watson, a linebacker for Cardinal Gibbons.
DITR next plans to attend high school practices at each individual school to meet and evaluate players.New York Giants Pro-bowler Osi Umenyiora previously hosted DITR's June camp, held at Lockhart Stadium the past two years. Plans are also underway to offer similar camps near Umenyiora's hometown in Alabama beginning next year.
"This is a very positive thing in the community," said Umenyiora. "It's a chance for these kids to be spot-lighted and showcase what they've got. I didn't even have the opportunity for something like this when I was growing up."
Rick Duteau can be reached at rduteau@sunsentinel.com.
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