All-tournament team to compete on national level

EDITOR'S NOTE: The NFL's national high school seven-on-seven tournament begins Friday. Follow the Falcons-sponsored squad through the weekend with the Falcons in the Community Blog.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- A dozen of Georgia's finest high school football players will represent their schools and the Falcons this weekend on one of the summer's biggest stages.

The NFL-sponsored High School Player Development program will run a national seven-on-seven tournament at the New Orleans Saints practice facility in Metairie, La. Twelve teams will compete under the brands of NFL teams. The Falcons squad was selected from participants in the team's seven-on-seven tournament hosted last month.

Athletes from Dublin High School won the tourney, whose coach will lead the all-stars this weekend.

"I think we've got a good group of kids," Coach Roger Holmes said just before a practice at the Falcons indoor practice facility Wednesday afternoon. "I think they picked the best we had in the tournament... I'm excited to coach these young men. I know they're all from great high school programs. We want to represent the Falcons and Georgia high school football, too."

Team members were selected based on their performance in the Falcons tournament, character and contributions in the community.

Seven-on-seven football has grown tremendously in recent years, providing a chance for high school athletes to tweak their skills through the summer.

"We enjoy doing it because kids want to play games," Holmes said. "Say what you want to, but football is in competition with travel league baseball, AAU basketball and those types of things. Kids want to compete against other schools and this is a way in the summer to do that -- to have an opportunity to hone your skills defensively maybe more than you do offensively.

"As a football player you're only entitled to 10 games a year... If you're not good you're done in 10 weeks. What do you do with the other 42?"

In this weekend's tournament, teams must stay in a three-deep zone coverage on defense. On offense, squads get four downs to go 20 yards, then another four downs to score. Overtimes are similar to the college game, with each team getting the ball on its opponents' 20-yard line with two downs to score.

Games begin Friday in Louisiana, but participants will also have a chance to tour the city and listen to guest speakers.

"The people here do a great job of running this thing," Holmes said. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing for these kids."

Falcons All-Tournament Team