1 October 2010 - Inside American Football

NEWS
Dynamic Sports Academy Athletes to Atte
The Dynamic Sports Academy
based in Finsbury Park, North London
(www.dynamicsportsacademy.com),
has placed three of its members in US
Colleges and High Schools to play
American Football this Autumn.
Harry Innis, 22 of Bromley, Kent, is
going to NCAA Division I’s University
of New Mexico. 18 year old Franklin
Nwokeji from Haringey, North
London, will be moving to Michigan to
attend Saline High School, and Charlie
Joseph, 18 from Kentish Town, North
London, is headed to Massachusetts to
attend Tabor Academy.
Harry, who plays Tight End (Kent
Exiles and London Cobras) will be
moving to Alberqueque, New Mexico
to undertake a Sport Science degree
whilst joining the Lobos. This is the
first time a British trained player has
HArry innis
10 Inside American Football - October 2010
received an offer to play for a Div I-A
University with the opportunity to play
in stadiums with over 80,000 capacity.
UNM currently has 9 graduates
playing in the NFL, including 6 times
Pro Bowler Brian Urlacher of the
Chicago Bears. Another Linebacker
looks to be the next Lobos to enter the
NFL; Carmen Messina, the 6’2” 222lb
All-American led the nation last year
with 162 tackles in just twelve games.
The Lobos kick-off their season with a
bang against current Pac-10 champions
and last year’s Rose Bowl runners-up
the University of Oregon Ducks. They
then welcome high-scoring Texas Tech
and the University of Utah (who were
ranked second in the nation following
the 2008 season). In addition their
schedule concludes with big games
against Brigham Young University,
the only non-BCS school ever to win
a national championship, and finally a
visit from Texas Christian University
who were ranked No. 3 in the nation
last year following an unbeaten season.
Franklin plays Running Back whilst
Charlie is a Wide Receiver and
Defensive Back. Both are members of
the Great Britain U-19 national team
and London Blitz youth team and
have been part of the DSA programme
for the past 2 years. In addition to
applying their considerable skills on
the football field, they will be able to
continue their studies and increase
their chances of receiving a university
scholarship the following year.
These are the latest British athletes
from the DSA-IRP (International
Recruitment Program) to continue
their educational and playing careers
The Dynamic Sports Academy uses
sport to improve the employability,
health and aspirations of London’s
young people. We develop well
rounded young athletes by
focusing on character traits such
as responsibility, discipline, ethics
and confidence as well as covering
all physical aspects of the athletes’
development. During our 2 years
in existence 91% of our school
leavers have progressed into Higher
Education despite coming from some
of the most deprived boroughs within
the UK.
Although multi-sport (the Rugby
Football League have just sent us 5
members of their elite player pathway
to beef up) our primary sport has been
American Football, the DSA itself is a
spin off from Blitz Youth (reported on
in Issue Two of I.A.F.). Adrian Klemens
is the founder.
We’ve had significant success this year
getting kids recruited by US College
and High Schools, culminating in
one of our guys going to NCAA-Div
I University of New Mexico, a rare
achievement indeed.