There are many talented high school football players throughout the state of Kentucky but unfortunately the Bluegrass State is primarily known for producing high level basketball talent as opposed to football.
That perception is perpetuated by the eight (8) NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships belonging to the University of Kentucky and one (1) NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship belonging to the University of Louisville.
Coach Ryan Montgomery of Ohio’s Building Lives Through Sports Network and Curtis Blackwell of Detroit’s Sound Mind Sound Body Academy are attempting to change that perception with their recent collaboration – which brought an official college football training camp to Louisville’s Fern Creek High School.
The 2019 Bluegrass Showcase took place on April 1st from 6:00pm-8:30pm and brought some of the most knowledgeable high school and college football minds to the state of Kentucky, to educate student-athletes and their parents about the college recruiting process.
The idea for the showcase generated from a conversation between Montgomery and Blackwell. The two football coaches thought that it would be an excellent idea to host a football showcase during Spring Break, that brings some of Michigan’s top student athletes to Kentucky – to workout and compete against local talent.
Montgomery is currently in his third season as wide-receiver coach at Louisville’s Fern Creek High School and has a total of twelve years coaching experience. He’s a member of the non-profit organization Building Lives Through Sports Network and has coached football in the Bahamas, as well as at Canton McKinley High School (his alma mater) in Canton, Ohio.
Blackwell co-founded the non-profit summer camp, Sound Body Sound Mind Academy in 2004, which has now evolved into a football organization that operates every weekend in Detroit. Blackwell’s resume is extensive. He served as the Recruiting Director for Michigan State University from 2013-2017 and his Sound Mind Sound Body Academy claims to have certified over 13,000 students since 2004. Sound Mind Sound Body Academy emphasizes on teaching students life skills in addition to football.
The goal of the showcase was to educate Kentucky student-athletes and their parents about how the college recruiting process works, while simultaneously exposing local talent to some of the top talent scouts in the region.
“The focal point obviously is getting as many student athletes from the city of Louisville but also from the state of Kentucky to come out to this showcase to get in some early work.” A lot of kids wait until June football camps and that’s when they find out that they might need to get into the weight room or they might need to do more cone drills.” – Ryan Montgomery
Montgomery and Blackwell are aware that many college coaches travel to Ohio, Michigan, Alabama and Florida, in their quest of recruiting student-athletes. To reach most of these destinations requires traveling through the state of Kentucky – yet student-athletes from the Bluegrass State are rarely on their radar. Montgomery and Blackwell are hoping that this showcase, and future showcases, shed some light on the high school football talent in Kentucky.
“In the Midwest, Ohio runs the show because the pipeline for a lot of players runs through there. So a lot of coaches actually come through Ohio and then they might branch out. But if you look at the dynamics, from Ohio to Alabama to Florida – coaches have to pass through Kentucky. The biggest thing is that they are passing a lot of student-athletes within the state of Kentucky.” – Ryan Montgomery
During the showcase the student-athletes were exposed to combine style testing such as the shuttle and 40 yard dash – and were also given the opportunity to have fun competing against each other on the field.
Specialty coaches were in attendance to work with groups of student-athletes in specific areas such as Offensive Line, Defensive Line, Wide Receivers, Running Backs, Quarterbacks etc.
In addition, the showcase provided a parent recruiting seminar which informed parents about the truths of the college recruiting process.
Guest Speakers for the seminar were Curtis Blackwell, Dr. LaLisa Anthony (CEO of Building Lives Through Sports Network, former NFL consultant and current International consultant for the Bahamas and Jamaica) and Head Coach Thomas Wilcher of Detroit’s CassTech High School.
Uniquely, Anthony is also the mother of Ryan Montgomery, which allowed her to speak to parents about the recruiting aspect from an experienced mother’s standpoint.
“To be the honest with you, that’s the highlight of the whole showcase. Yes, you want the kids to get out there and let them enjoy their talents but the benefit is that a lot of parents in the state of Kentucky really don’t understand the recruiting process.” – Ryan Montgomery
As a form of entertainment and community involvement – Louisville’s Taneka Bryant, of F3 Dance Chambers, brought out one of her dance teams to perform for the student-athletes during down time.
During this showcase students were given contact information, websites and information about coaches and schools that can possibly assist them in becoming better student-athletes.
The goal for everyone involved with this showcase is to use sports to build character, discipline and emphasize education within student-athletes, which will hopefully assist them in successfully attending college.
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
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