Local high school football players who are currently seniors are invited to attend the National Football Foundation California Showcase on Saturday at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine.
The event is free and hosted by former UCLA coach Terry Donahue. It was created to provide players bypassed by Division I institutions an introduction to a school that might want them – and possibly provide substantial financial aid.
Players in California are invited to display their talents in front of coaches and administrators from Division II, Division III and NAIA schools throughout the country, along with statewide junior colleges. More than 70 schools will be represented this year.
The combine features nearly 100 volunteer “coaches” working with the more than 500 expected participants. These coaches are mostly former college and NFL players.
The morning activities include a series of drills that enable the prospects to display their abilities.
Each prospect is assigned a bib number and those who have a grade-point average of 3.5 or better get red jerseys, enabling the college representatives to immediately identify those who excel in the classroom.
In the afternoon, players and college representatives meet in a large airplane hangar to discuss, among other things, scholarship opportunities.
Admission to the showcase is free and restricted to the athletes, participating coaches, visiting high school and college coaches, college administrators and the media.
More than 1,500 student athletes participated in the first three California Showcases. Since 2013, 345 high school senior athletes were awarded over $8 million in financial aid packages.
For more information and to register, go to www.CAShowcase.org.
