Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its Values & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
05/18/17
@ProFootballHOF
PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME ACADEMY
LAUNCHES – ‘GAME FOR LIFE’ NATIONAL YOUTH
FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
MORE THAN 500 YOUTH FOOTBALL TEAMS TO COMPETE IN NATION’S
BIGGEST YOUTH FOOTBALL EVENT TO REACH CHAMPIONSHIP AT
JOHNSON CONTROLS HALL OF FAME VILLAGE SPORTS COMPLEX
CANTON, OHIO – The Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy in Canton, Ohio today
announced the nation’s largest postseason youth football event will take place capped
by championships played at the world-class sports complex at Johnson Controls Hall of
Fame Village.
Eight regional events (Las Vegas, Indianapolis, Orlando, Charlotte, New Jersey, Kansas
City, Dallas and Canton) featuring 500 top youth football teams from across the country
will be vying for a national championship held at the spectacular football and youth
sports complex, a main component of the $700 million Johnson Controls Hall of Fame
Village project on the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s campus.
A unique and exclusive element to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy’s
championship is the alignment with the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s “Game for Life”
program that focuses on the values learned from the game. A character development
seminar built around values such as commitment, integrity, courage, respect, and
excellence learned from the game but applied to all facets of life will be provided to
more than 15,000 athletes and 3,500 coaches. The program is led by the Hall of Fame
staff and Hall of Famers.
The “Game for Life” Championship series features two divisions, all-star (6th-8th grade)
and team based (4th-8th grade). Competition will take place in November and
December with all eyes on reaching Canton for the national championship.
COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE
“We are thrilled to partner with LEGACY Global Sports and have an impact on the
the next generation of promising athletes,” Pro Football Hall of Fame President & CEO
David Baker commented. “This youth championship series, the biggest in the history
of youth football, will provide a platform for great competition while also imparting the
values learned from this great game that will help shape their futures, on and off the
football field.”
“This national showcase event will bring the nation’s top youth teams and youth
athletes together like no other and it will serve as a cornerstone property for football in
America. With eight regional events, a blue-ribbon selection team and a final stop in
Canton, this the ultimate in youth football,” Rich McGuinness, General Manager for
LEGACY Global Sports Football Division stated.
The all-star division will include a total of 192 teams comprised of 64 teams at three
levels (6th-8th grades). All teams will be created through tryouts across the country
overseen by Academy scouts.
The team division includes the top eight teams in seven age groups who will be invited
to compete regionally for the right to play in Canton in December. The selection process
will be headed by former Cleveland Browns General Manager, Ray Farmer, who will lead
a team of Hall of Famers, legendary high school coaches and aspiring NFL front office
student athletes from Malone University in Canton. The committee will evaluate the
nation’s top teams throughout the fall for final selection and bracket seeding.
Full descriptions and qualifying criteria for the all-star and team-based categories; and
team nomination information can be found at www.ProFootballHOFAcademy.com.
“We appreciate and respect the youth teams who travel to Florida and play in
December, but there are hundreds of top teams who cannot travel that far including
independent teams that have no postseason opportunity but to play in open
jamborees,” McGuinness added. “This event is an exciting option for top teams to play
other top teams closer to home and earn the right to play for a national championship
in Canton against the nation’s best.”
The championship event is managed by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy, owned
by LEGACY Global Sports and directed by McGuinness, who created the U.S. Army AllAmerican Bowl on NBC, the Eastbay All-American Game and other top football
properties over the past 15 years. He sold his interest in those events to reimagine
football for the next generation of athletes in Canton. The Academy, the nation’s most
elite football development program that features the NFL’s top coaches, the most
advanced training technology, is located at National Football & Youth Sports Complex, a
world-class training facility, in Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village.
COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE
Media Contacts:
Kristian Dyer
Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy
[email protected]; 602-206-7052
Pete Fierle, Chief of Staff & Vice President of Communications
Pro Football Hall of Fame
[email protected]; 330-588-3622
###
ABOUT HALL OF FAME ACADEMY
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy brought together the nation’s best coaches from the NFL ranks, sports
scientists and nationally renowned trainers to the best facility to imagine the future of training at every position.
Then we built a very special place where this new facility-based training will live and where special athletes will be
called to train. For today’s athlete, we combined the latest training technology, state of the art testing and master
positional coaches from the NFL to create a world class curriculum for today’s middle school and prep athletes.
ABOUT THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
Located in Canton, Ohio, the birthplace of the National Football League, the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3)
not-for-profit institution with the Mission to Honor the Heroes of the Game, Preserve its History, Promote its
Values, & Celebrate Excellence EVERYWHERE.
Hundreds of thousands of fans from across the globe travel to Canton annually to experience “The Most Inspiring
Place on Earth!” that chronicles America’s most popular sport.
Construction on Johnson Controls Hall of Fame Village, a $700 million development project that includes nine
main components, is under way in Canton to transform the Hall of Fame’s campus.
For more information about the Pro Football Hall of Fame, please visit ProFootballHOF.com; @ProFootballHOF on
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube.
COMMITMENT • INTEGRITY • COURAGE • RESPECT • EXCELLENCE