NFL calls on African talent

Athletes interested in the sport of American football and playing overseas will have the opportunity to show recruiters what they are capable of at an upcoming National Football League (NFL) scouting camp.

World Wide Scholarships (WWS) and Jim Ulrich from Enter Sports Management joined forces and are laying the groundwork for a professionalised talent pipeline that will uncover American Football talent in Africa.

The project will give talented athletes from Africa the opportunity to be drafted by America’s NFL.

To facilitate and expedite the project, WWS and Ulrich enlisted the help of the CEO of NFL Draft Bible, Rick Serritella, who provides NFL Draft content for Sports Illustrated and is a recognised industry media expert.

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The outcome of this relationship is a new NFL scouting camp for African talent called the WWS Football Camp (WWSFC).

WWSFC scouting camps will open up a new avenue for African sporting talent to head to the USA on college scholarships and the possibility of playing in the NFL.

“We’re excited to be launching WWSFC to open a pipeline of African sporting talent,” said Ulrich.

“We think African talent has great potential in the NFL.”

Ulrich said previously, opportunities for African talent in the NFL were restricted by high equipment costs.

“The demand for elite competitors in this sport has risen to such an extent due to the high level of competition that NFL teams are scanning abroad for the right blend of skills and physical attributes to turn African talent into NFL stars,” highlighted Ulrich.

“This collaboration will take the talent of Africa and put it in front of NFL teams so the NFL dream will no longer be a dream or foreign concept for Africa’s great athletes.”

WWS CEO and former Pennsylvania State University track and football player Munya Maraire said he is excited to create new opportunities for athletes in Africa.

“For many years, identification and recruitment of African talent were constrained to certain sporting codes because of their local dominance,” explained Maraire.

“With WWSFC, we are looking to propel talented young athletes into sporting codes that do not yet have much of a presence in Africa, changing lives and career prospects for many young Africans.”

The first WWS Football Camp will be held from August 6 to August 9 at Hoërskool Transvalia in Vanderbijlpark.

Other camps will be confirmed in other countries in the African region.

A selection of players who fit the skills and ability prerequisites for the NFL will be profiled on the NFL Draft Bible site.

Videos of the participants will be sent to NFL teams to gauge interest.

Besides Ulrich and Serritella, other NFL and Canadian Football League names visiting the event include NFL veteran and NFL Network stars Brian Baldinger, Jim Mora (former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and American college UCLA), and John Murphy, former VP of Football Operations and player personnel at Saskatchewan Roughriders.

An NFL camera crew will be present to video the event with the best players being presented to the NFL as well as the top American universities.

Boys aged 17 to 24 years old and older players with professional sports experience will be eligible to take part in the scouting camps.

Visit www.wwsscoutcamp.com for more information and to sign up to attend the camp.

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