Last Friday Elmore County High School hosted a 7-on-7 tournament with six surrounding schools. Reeltown, Dadeville, Montgomery Academy, Stanhope Elmore and Wetumpka football teams were all in attendance Friday afternoon on the new turf field at ECHS.
The event was sponsored and supported by businesses in the surrounding areas. First Community bank donated pizzas for all teams, various churches donated Gatorade sports drinks for the athletes and BSN, the sports apparel provider, donated customized compression shirts for athletes to use during the 7-on-7 tournaments.
“It went really well,” Elmore County coach Kyle Caldwell said. “Just to see some different teams that we don’t normally face during the regular season and just get a chance to create some fellowship with those coaches from different schools.”
For Elmore County, a Class 5A school, playing against a variety of teams with different levels of player depth and competition will help them prepare for the tough competition of the season. Despite being one of the smaller schools in the lineup, Reeltown, a Class 2A school, is coming off of a state championship win last season. Dadeville and Montgomery Academy, both Class 3A, are two other strong football programs looking to compete in the playoffs this season.
According to Caldwell, the real differences between the larger schools is roster depth rather than talent or skill.
“They don’t have to play as many guys on both sides of the ball,” he said. “But if you manage your guys right and prepare them, prepare their bodies to be able to play multiple snaps on both sides of the ball, then it can be done and done successfully.”
The 7-on-7 games themselves went well for Elmore County. They took home some wins and were handed some losses, but the ultimate take-home is more practice and more experience for younger, first-time varsity players.
“I know we got a lot of young guys, a lot of ninth graders and tenth graders reps,” Caldwell said. “And that’s just invaluable. I know it’s a 7-on-7 but those guys need as many chances to compete against somebody else as they can. And so that was the main goal, just getting out of there healthy, but also seeing a lot of young guys.”