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7-on-7 Controversy

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Reported by: Mike McClanahan

Published: 11/13/2011 7:05 pm

Updated: 11/13/2011 8:39 pm

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT)
No pads, no tackling, 7-on-7 tournaments are basically flag or touch football games where high school athletes can show off their skills. The off season tournaments are now very popular in Alabama. Restoration Academy Football Coach Dewayne Coker says his players love it.

"We're a small 2A AISA school, but we have beaten several 6A schools in 7 on 7 and that doesn't necessarily mean we could beat them with pads on," said Coach Dewyane Coker of Restoration Academy in Fairfield. "The pros are you get to teach your guys, your quarterbacks, your receivers- your system- what you're going to be doing the next year. It's pretty effective at helping you with that."
The 7-on-7 rules set by the Alabama High School Athletic Association say member schools can only play other schools that are members of recognized associations and only on seven dates each summer.
However, the same rules don't apply to third party coaches and all-star teams.
"There are rules that govern the eligibility or ineligibility of a particular student athlete. You kind of remove that accountability when you start involving third party entities," said Coker.
The fear is that third party coaches and promoters could be changing the landscape of high school sports- by creating an environment where teenage athletes are put in contact with sponsors and college recruiters- without the guidance of their high school coaches.
"There are groups out there that want to make it a television event and an internet event and the purpose I get the feeling is not to promote the kid, but to promote the internet site and to try to find a way to make money off of these recruits because recruiting is a big, big business. College recruiting that is. I'm not talking about big money from colleges, but big money from sponsors," said Ron Ingram of the Alabama High School Athletic Association.
Some coaches see parallels between third party 7-on-7 tournaments and amateur basketball club teams which have been a major source of controversy in other parts of the country.
"In some places it is happening. And in some cases schools are born just to be recruiting havens for you know getting all stars," said Ingram.

Coach Coker says some promoters make big promises to student athletes without being grounded in the basics like grades.
"The third parties are telling the kids how great they are, how much ball skill they have, how many schools are after them wanting them, wanting to talk to them, wanting to offer, and a lot of kids just translate that into an offer rather than just being recruited and there is a huge difference. And it's not until late in the process that they even understand sometimes that they, they're not eligible to play," said Coker.

Sometimes, the ones that wind up losing are the kids.
"Absolutely, absolutely,” said Coker. “Hey, I can take you to rec centers around here that are filled with 20-year-old's, 21-year-old's that thought they were going to play college ball, were led to believe...and they…they couldn't even qualify.”

Ron Ingram says there's nothing wrong with 7-on-7 tournaments as long as promoters play by the rules, but he has this message for athletes.
"If you're a high school football player who is a college prospect, you will be seen through your high school program. This state is the most recruited state in the country I do believe," said Ingram.

He says if parents have questions about club teams- they should ask a high school coach.

The Southeastern Conference has proposed banning non-scholastic football events like 7-on-7 from any university venue.

From NCAA.org:
"From the SEC: To prohibit institutions from hosting non-scholastic football events (for example, 7-on-7 football events) at any venue." Rather than continue to support the further proliferation of these non-scholastic events, it is now appropriate to enact on a ban on institutional involvement in any way with non-scholastic football events," the league says. "This proposal enacts such a ban, while still permitting regular- and postseason scholastic events to be played on campus as permitted under NCAA rules."

Also from NCAA.org:
Recruiting at Non-Scholastic Events Banned

Legislation was also affirmed in 2009 preventing men's basketball coaches from observing non-scholastic events in April. The rule was adopted in an effort to protect the academic interests of prospects and minimize the non-scholastic influences in the recruiting process.