School of the Legends Brings ‘Pros and Joes’ to AYF National Championships

On December 4-9, 2011, the American Youth Football National Championships were held at the Austin-Tindall Regional Park in Kissimmee, FL. School of the Legends, AYF’s Official Online Player Training Partner, was present throughout the week, bringing a taste of the NFL to the 300 teams that took part in the games. Former NFL players, such as Rick Upchurch, Al Smith, Marquette Smith, Walter Briggs, Matt Darby, Robert Weathers and Fernando Smith, spoke with several groups of players and even took part in an NFL Legends Skills Challenge, pitting the Pros against the young “Joes” of the AYF.

“What a great atmosphere,” said Mike Schatz, Chief Marketing Officer of SOTL. “The passion the kids and their coaches showed for the game was overwhelming. And to be able to bring them real NFL players to share their own secrets on the game, training and even maintaining focus in the classroom—it was an absolute hit.”

Former Houston Oilers Pro Bowl linebacker (and current SOTL Director of Special Markets) Al Smith agreed.

“There’s so much to learn at every level of this game. It always feels good to pay it forward to the next generation. That’s one reason I was excited to teach a linebacker course on SOTL.com—to take what I’ve learned over my career and share it with players who are hungry to take their own game to the next level.”

Smith is one of 40 current and former NFL players who teach a position-specific Legends in Training course on SchooloftheLegends.com.