Middle School All American Bowl

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You know, the world really has gone to h-e-double-hockey sticks when there is a "Middle School All-America Bowl" and some 8th grader has already been offered a scholarship to the University of Hawaii.

All I can hope is that most of our parents haven't seen this ... coaches lives will become miserable once a bunch of these mommies and daddies understand there is a "Middle School All-America Bowl" and their kid wasn't invited ...


http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/Midd ... today.html

Middle-schoolers take aim at first all-star glory today
By Lorne Chan- San Antonio Express-News
Posted January 4, 2009

Koy Detmer Jr. is a 5-foot, 95-pounder in the seventh grade, and he's already following his father.

Detmer, the son of former NFL quarterback Koy Detmer, is one of four local players participating in the Football University Youth All-American Bowl, a national all-star game for players in the seventh and eighth grades.

Of the local players, Brandon Locha and Detmer will play in the seventh-grade game, Cody Ennis will play in the under-170 pound eighth-grade game, and Lorenzo Fonseca will play in the eighth-grade unlimited weight game.

The games begin at 9 a.m. today at the Alamodome and will be shown live on the Web at www.footballuniversity.org.

“I'm pretty nervous,” said Detmer, 12, who attends Canyon Middle School in New Braunfels. “All of the other guys in this game are really good.”

This is the first year of the game, run in conjunction with the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Rich McGuinness, the founder of the games and the All-American Bowl, said the games were the next natural step in national all-star games, despite debate about whether seventh and eighth grade is too early an age.

“Look at the Little League World Series,” McGuinness said. “Or AAU teams and select teams. The world has gone to an elite level at this age, and football's actually the last sport to do this.”

The prime example of a middle school all-star may be Reeve Koehler, a 6-3, 270-pound lineman in the eighth grade who already has been offered a scholarship to play for the University of Hawaii.

Detmer isn't the only player with pro athlete bloodlines. Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, former Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey and former NBA great Karl Malone all have kids playing in the games.

For players such as Locha, a center at Luna Middle School, the game was his dream of playing in the All-American Bowl coming four years early. Locha already has been to camps to focus on his long-snapping ability.

“Football's a year-round sport for Brandon, and he's already put years of work into it,” Locha's father, Chris Locha, said. “This is a great way for him to see it pay off.”
 
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