GREENSBORO – The Atlantic Coast Conference and USA Football announced a new partnership today that makes USA Football the official football development partner of the ACC.
As part of the partnership, the ACC will show its commitment to youth football by taking part in USA Football’s “Put Pride Aside for Player Safety” campaign. Select games on the ACC Network and its pregame show, “ACC Blitz,” will air a USA Football-produced video message within its inventory that promotes player safety, directing youth football coaches to remove a player from a game or practice if concussion is suspected.
“The partnership with USA Football is a terrific fit, as our conference and member institutions continue to believe strongly in the health and well-being of youth athletes,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “We are proud of this opportunity, which introduces young people to the fun and excitement of football.”
“We are pleased that the ACC is part of the USA Football family and we commend the conference and its universities for their commitment to youth players’ health and safety, emphasizing concussion awareness and management,”said USA Football Executive Director Scott Hallenback.. “The ACC shares USA Football’s mission of ensuring that the game’s youngest players have a positive experience playing our country’s favorite sport.”
USA Football’s “Put Pride Aside” video message and its other player health videos will reside on the ACC’s website, www.theACC.com, ACC social media sites, and will be made available to each of the conference’s 12 football members: Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Miami, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Prior to the Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game presented by Dr Pepper on Dec. 3 in Charlotte, N.C., USA Football will host a “USA Football FUNdamentals” clinic, a fun skills-and-drills clinic designed to teach football basics to youth players. More than 1,000 children are expected to attend the clinic, which will take place at the Carolina Panthers’ practice facility.
Coaches and medical personnel of ACC football programs will be invited to serve on USA Football’s Football and Wellness Committee, which is committed to the safety and development of America’s 4.14 million youth and high school football players.
In addition, select ACC football programs will host USA Football’s U.S. Under-19 National Team player trials. The U.S. Under-19 team competes every February in the International Bowl, an annual competition matching it against a World Team composed of players age 19 and under from approximately one dozen countries. The World Team is managed by the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). Team USA also will represent the United States in the 2012 IFAF Under-19 World Championship. Sixty-two (62) countries spanning six continents possess a national federation of sport dedicated solely to football.
USA Football is the sport’s national governing body in the United States with members – players, coaches, game officials and youth league commissioners – residing in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. In addition to the ACC, the Indianapolis-based non-profit is the official football development partner of the Mid-American Conference and the Patriot League as well as the NFL and each of the league’s 32 teams.
About USA Football: USA Football, the sport’s national governing body in the United States, inspires participation, and ensures a positive experience for all youth and other amateur players. The independent nonprofit hosts more than 80 football training events annually for coaches, players and youth football league commissioners. USA Football is the official football development partner of the NFL and its 32 teams and manages U.S. national teams for international competition. Endowed by the NFL and NFL Players Association in 2002 through the NFL Youth Football Fund, USA Football distributes $1 million annually in equipment grants and offers youth league volunteer background check subsidies. Former NFL team executive Carl Peterson is USA Football’s chairman.
— News Release
It’s sad that it took Russell Wilson moving on from N.C. State to Wisconsin to get attention, and Heisman Trophy attention at that. I suppose it says something about the state of ACC football and even the state of N.C. State football but it probably says the most about the media that likes a story such as Wilson’s.