International High School Football

 INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

     It is only fitting and appropriate that an international football event should be staged at Canton, Ohios Fawcett Stadium.  Most of you are aware that this is the venue for the N.F.L.s 1st preseason football game which is the final event of the leagues annual Hall of Fame Induction weekend.  The N.F.L. Hall of Fame Complex is adjacent to the stadium.

     The first International Federation of American Football Junior World Championship will be played at Fawcett Stadium from June 27 to July 5.  The best eight 19 years-and-under national teams from the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) will play twelve games over these eight days.  The tournament includes 45 member squads from these eight countries: Canada, United States, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Sweden, France, and New Zealand.

     First round games are on Saturday, June 27; second round games which pit the winners against the winners and a losers bracket are on Wednesday, July 1; third round games are on Saturday, July 4; and the Gold Medal Game is on Sunday, July 5.

     Team U.S.A. is made up of recently graduated high school seniors from 21 of the 50 states.  Ohio has 7 players while California, Michigan, Texas, and Virginia have 4 players each.  All of the U.S.A.s 45 players have signed letters of intent with Division I or Division II colleges. These include a couple of players to Northwestern, Ohio State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech.  Three USA players will play at Syracuse.

     The coaching staff of the USA gridders includes ten high school head coaches from ten different states.  They are: Head Coach Chuck Kyle from Cleveland St Ignatius (Ohio); def. coordinator Steve Specht from Cincinnati St. Xavier (Ohio); off. coordinator Gary Swenson of West Des Moines Valley (Iowa); Tom Bainter from Bothwell (Wash); Marcus Boyles from Wayne County (Miss); Ed Croson of Lake Balboa (Calif); Jeremy Gold of Ann Arbor Pioneer (Mich); Frank Lenti of Chicago Mount Carmel (Ill); Chris Merrit of Miami Columbus (Fla); and Allen Wilson from Dallas Carter (Texas).

     USA Football Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck was quick to point out that the reputations and quality of the USA coaching staff had a lot to do with winning the cooperation and trust of the NCAA and the college coaches who gave permission to their recruits to play in the grueling tournament Hallenbeck was especially complimentary of the head coach of USA, Chuck Kyle:  He embodies all of the qualities we would ever want in our first-ever head coach of Team USA to represent this country.

     The coaches are challenged by the short preparation time.  So to assist the USA players in learning all the Xs and Os, they have inserted the USA playbook into the Madden video football game.

     Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio is housing all eight teams in an Olympic-style setup.  Once all eight teams arrive by Thursday, June 25 there will be 550 players, coaches, and trainers boarding and practicing at Walsh University, an NAIA football participant.

     More info about players, coaches, and the camaraderie of the event can be found on usafootball.com.