There has been a lot of negative talk recently about high school 7-on-7 tournaments and the influence of agents and runners and otherwise ne’er do wells. College coaches and NCAA officials say that if something is not done to confront some of the corruption, football’s 7-on-7 atmosphere could turn into that of the circus that has become AAU basketball.
But it’s not always the case. While money is apparently being tossed at athletes to promote teams, pay for travel expenses and adorn them with top-of-the line uniforms, bags and other attire, some teams can’t get any support.
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Take for instance one of the better, and certainly more positive stories in the world of Florida high school football this year.
No, it won’t be a happy ending. Not unless fate changes the destination of the Florida Footballers Fire 7-on-7 traveling all-star team. Like everyone else, they need money. The national 7-on-7 tournament is in Dallas at the end of this week and the Fire have qualified to be there.
They earned it. They beat the big boys. The Fire beat defending national champion South Florida Express, the same team that had cut most of the players who make up the Fire during tryouts earlier this year. The same team with the uniforms and bags and warm-ups and nice charter bus.
The Fire, made up of mostly Broward and Miami-Dade county athletes, knocked off the Express in the Badger Elite 7-on-7 Florida state championship at USF in March. After that, the Fire also won the championship at the Alabama Badger 7-on-7 in Birmingham.
They drove three vans 13 hours to get to the Alabama tourney. They earned the money through various fundraising ideas. Each player had to pay or earn money for his fair share. They did the same for the Tampa trip.
But you can only go back to the well so many times. It dries up.
Coach Dennis Marroquin said the players also had to raise money for the respective high school teams during the spring, and so the well, indeed, is starting to get a little dusty.
This team needs a sponsor, or two or three.
“It hurts,” Marroquin said. “When you do everything right and no one notices. My team was the rejects, but we won and now we are supposed to play in Dallas but the chances of that actually happening are getting more and more slim.”
Rejects from the other team tryouts maybe, but many Fire team members are some of the state’s top prospects.
Gainesville High’s Chris Bivins, the talented defensive back who just committed to USF on Saturday, played a big part in the Fire’s victory at the Alabama tourney. Other players on the squad who have committed to colleges for the 2012 season are Hialeah DB Larry Hope (Miami commit), Lakeland Santa Fe ATH B.J. Knauf (Purdue), and Fort Lauderdale Boyd Anderson ATH Bruce Natson (Utah State).
Another player on the Fire roster received an invitation to Dartmouth College. DB Brion Grove carries a 3.9 GPA at West Palm Beach Kings Academy. That’s right. Ivy League. Brains and Brawn on the Fire.
But that doesn’t send you to Dallas. Money would. They just don’t have any.
If you’d like to find out more about the team’s Dallas trip and its needs, contact coach Marroquin at cell number 305-370-2466 or via e-mail at coachmarroquin@hotmail.com.
Chris Hays is the Sentinel’s recruiting coverage coordinator and can be reached at .
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