College Station, Tx - The Pride Football Club 12U 7 on 7 football team competed in the 2012 PrimeTime Sports Tournament of Champions over the weekend in College Station, Tx, July 7th and 8th. Sixteen championship teams from Texas and Louisiana met at Veterans Field in College Station for pool and tournament play.
College Station, Tx - The Pride Football Club 12U 7 on 7 football team competed in the 2012 PrimeTime Sports Tournament of Champions over the weekend in College Station, Tx, July 7th and 8th. Sixteen championship teams from Texas and Louisiana met at Veterans Field in College Station for pool and tournament play.
To qualify, teams had to be invited and, at a minimum, been a runner-up in a qualifier tournament over the summer. The Pride 7 on 7 team finished 2nd place in two of the qualifier tournaments. Perennial high school powerhouse teams such as Southlake, Lake Travis, Coppell, and Shreveport, Louisiana all had teams participating.
The Pride team played 5 games in 16 hours, winning 4 of them. The only loss was a hard-fought battle with annual national powerhouse, the Calvary Cavaliers from Shreveport, Louisiana. However, the Pride’s Saturday pool play record and point differential allowed them to advance to the final 4 as the #1 seed in their pool.
The 16 teams had now finished the pool play and the #1 seeds from each pool advanced to the final 4. It was evident after the 1st round of tournament play that the Pride (2-1) had been in the strongest pool play bracket by winning the semi-final game against Lovejoy (3-0) 38 – 6. The Pride completely dominated the game on offense and defense against a team they had previously lost to in the year.
“In the championship game the kid’s nerves kind of took over a bit,” stated Coach Don Vrana. The normally high-powered Pride offense only led 7-6 at halftime of the championship game against the Coppell Cowboys. “I told the kids before the game, defense wins championships even in the 7 on 7 type play.” Defense coordinator Jody Peterman, and the assistant coaches Eric, Shane, and Tony must have gotten the message across. The Pride defense held the Coppell Cowboys, a team averaging over 30 points a game, to just 12 total points. The Forney Pride Football Club beat the Coppell Coyboys 13 to 12, to win the tournament.
“I give all the credit to the boys because they were very in tune with all their coaches. When you consider during the 16 hours from the start of the first game to end of the championship game, 2 hours were spent in the hotel swimming pool and another 2 hours in lightening delay, the kid stayed focused. This was a new experience for everyone involved. Before this season not a single Pride player or coach had even seen a 7 on 7 game, much less played in or coached one. We all grew up together on this one; we saw pee wee football players turned into solid youth football young men on and off the field. What a great trip! “
Pride Youth Tackle Football starts the 2012 season in a few weeks. If you would like your child to be a part of the Pride Football Club, there are still plenty of slots available. For more information about Pride Football visit www.PrideYouthFootball.com or the Sports section on inForney.com.
For more about Pride Football Club Sponsors