O-D Sports Announces Plans to Relocate All-Star High School Football Game from Orange Bowl to Coastal Carolina University's Brooks Stadium
Myrtle Beach, SC (PRWEB) May 9, 2008 -- The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, one of the elite high school all-star football games in the nation, is relocating from the Orange Bowl in Miami to the Myrtle Beach area in 2009, Offense-Defense Sports president Rick Whittier announced Thursday.
The O-D All-American Bowl, featuring 88 of the best high school seniors in the country, will be held Jan. 2, 2009, at Coastal Carolina University's Brooks Stadium. The game will be nationally televised by the Fox College Sports Network and selected Fox Sports affiliates throughout the country.
The 2008 Offense-Defense All-American Bowl was the last game played at the Orange Bowl before its demolition, but O-D Sports officials didn't have to look far for a new home site. With the company's headquarters in Myrtle Beach, it made common sense and good business sense to hold the game there.
"Of all the locations and venues that were available to us, none made a better fit than the Grand Strand and Coastal Carolina University," Whittier said. "It's a growing community that has been supportive of our efforts and it's popular destination that will raise the profile of our game and our All-Americans."
"Our game will be good for the Grand Strand by bringing exposure and visitors to the beach at a time when tourism is slow," Whittier added. "We hope to put on a showcase the community can be proud of and will embrace for years to come, just as fans can follow these players' careers for years to come."
The players are selected for the game from the Offense-Defense Top 100 list - a national ranking system identifying the top players in the country. The O-D Top 100 is so respected that Sports Illustrated signed a two-year agreement for exclusive use of the ranking in its publications.
The players and their families will arrive in Myrtle Beach after Christmas and spend the week practicing and sightseeing on the Strand before the game. The O-D All-American Bowl takes place after the Beach Ball Classic, one of the top high school basketball tournaments in the country.
Efforts are under way to host a national golf tournament and cheerleading and band competitions to help promote the Grand Strand's sports tourism industry. Plans call for the week of Dec. 26-Jan. 2 to be designated an "All-American Sports Week" in Myrtle Beach, which SI has named an "All-American Sports Town."
"The Offense-Defense All-American Bowl will increase the number of visitors and the visibility of the Grand Strand," said Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce president Brad Dean. "With the bowl game, the Beach Ball Classic and some other events that are in the works, this has the potential to be an All-American Sports Showcase that will make the Grand Strand a mecca for high school athletics."
About Offense-Defense Sports:
Currently in its 40th year, Offense-Defense Football Camps offer 60 camps in 38 cities across the country. Named the Official Football Camp of the NFL Coaches Association and the No. 1 Summer Sports Camp by Sports Illustrated For Kids, O-D Football Camps provide fundamental instruction in a full-contact environment for ages 7-18 from some of the top minds and talents in the game.
Among its impressive role of alumni are NFL quarterbacks Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Chris Simms (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), wide receivers Chad Johnson (Cincinnati Bengals), Amani Toomer (New York Giants), Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers), Terrell Owens (Dallas Cowboys) and Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals), and running backs Fred Taylor (Jacksonville Jaguars), Larry Johnson (Kansas City Chiefs) and Frank Gore (San Francisco 49ers). On the defensive side of the ball, Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens), DeMarcus Ware (Dallas Cowboys), Keith Brooking (Atlanta Falcons) and Jonathan Vilma (New York Jets) are camp veterans.
O-D Football Camps not only focus on teaching the fundamentals of football, but also valuable life skills participants can take with them to the home, school and the locker room. Leadership, teamwork and the importance of getting an education are all part of the core curriculum taught at O-D Camps.
O-D Football Camps offer a three-tiered program of training: Youth/Prep for ages 7-18 that provides fundamental instruction for all skill levels; Select, a non-contact, positional camp for experienced, high school-aged athletes; and Elite, an invitation-only, non-contact camp and showcase for top players. Those who excel at the Elite level will be considered for participation in the O-D All-American Bowl.
As the longest-running, full-contact camp in the country, O-D Sports also is on the cutting edge of new technology and will introduce several new services in time for the fall football season that will revolutionize prep sports. O-D TV will launch "High Live," an Internet broadcast of as many as 1,000 schools' sporting events (not just football, but all sports) and give those teams fund-raising potential via advertising sales on the Web site. O-D Sports will provide those schools with the equipment, technology and expertise to take part.
O-D TV also is unveiling a service at its summer camps which will allow parents to watch their kids at practice via the Internet to monitor their child's progress or just to cure their empty-nest syndrome or for coaches looking to learn the latest NFL teaching techniques.
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