The conversation between a parent and referee during a recent 7-on-7 football tournament started off friendly. It was mostly good-natured ribbing, but after a minute or so, the back-and-forth started to escalate.
Sensing the tone had shifted, the official tried to end the exchange.
“It’s not like anybody’s getting a scholarship out here,” he said.
Let the debate begin.
College coaches are more likely to describe the increasingly popular 7-on-7 events as football’s version of the travel basketball circuit. A competitive, yet unregulated environment that mostly serves to quench fans’ thirst for offseason recruiting news.
“You could send me all the 7-on-7 film you want, and you know how much I’m going to watch?” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said. “None.”
But talk to high school athletes, parents and Internet talent evaluators and 7-on-7 is an essential part of the effort to earn a scholarship.
After all, baseball and volleyball have club teams, so why not football?
“There’s some carryover as far as route combinations, accuracy, quarterback, all that stuff,” first-year Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich said. “I don’t see where it’s a terribly bad thing for our kids to be out there doing something physical and trying to get better at their craft. But you still need to figure out when the pads come on, what is that young man made of?”
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