Seven heaven
Helps Mass. athletes get film for colleges in safe environment
Some Mass. football players are participating in a 7v7 league to get film for college
While the high school football season never kicked off this fall, coaches across the state are finding ways to keep their players on the field.
Over the last six weeks, numerous players from both the MIAA and ISL have gotten the chance to get back on the gridiron — participating in socially distant practices, workouts, and in some cases seven-on-seven games.
Every Saturday afternoon at Milton High School, Wildcats coach Steve Dembowski oversees the Northeast Regional 7v7 Fall League season. Dembowksi has helped put on the Northeast Regional 7v7 Tournament over the last 17 years. During that span, the tournament has become one of the region’s most popular football events.
Once this past summer’s tournament was canceled, however, along with the fall MIAA high school season, Dembowski looked into carrying the concept over into the fall.
The league is allowing skill players to showcase their talents for potential future college landing spots and gets them back on the field in a safe, controlled environment.
“We explored and looked into all the necessary guidelines we would have to follow in order to make something like this happen,” Dembowski said. “I reached out to the (Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs) in terms of what we had to do but ultimately it falls on us to make sure the guidelines are strictly enforced.”
The fall slate does not nearly reach the magnitude that Dembowski’s summer tournament does. Currently, 24 different teams play at Milton on Saturdays and while kids play with their fellow high school teammates, they sign up privately rather than through their individual schools. Each player’s parent must sign off on their participation. Leagues are not involved in any way. There are 20 upperclassmen teams and four freshmen and sophomore teams.
Dembowski never reached out to individual schools asking them to participate but has been inundated with requests from coaches across Eastern Mass. who are either accustomed to playing in his tournament over the summer or have simply desired to get their kids time on a field. In one instance, Dembowski received a text from a Bay State Conference quarterback saying he got 16 kids to sign up for the league.
“We’re allowing the coaches to come in and if they’re allowed to work with the players, they can do that,” Dembowski said. “But it’s a very controlled environment. We do not have rosters. It’s a private event with clearly defined start times.”
The league, which consists mostly of kids from the Catholic Conference, Bay State Conference, Tri-Valley League and Hockomock, will not have playoffs.
Modifications to the game include: no press-coverage; all players and coaches must wear masks; and players are down either via flag or one-hand touch. No fans are allowed inside the venue to watch the respective games and a maximum of three coaches are allowed per team. If a league has allowed out-of-season coaching, then the program’s respective coaches are allowed to work with their players throughout the course of the game. For conferences like the Bay State Conference, however, that are not allowing out-of-season sport-specific contact of any kind, a handful of coaches have hired those from outside the program to work with their kids.
A big catalyst behind the decision to get the fall league off the ground is so that kids have opportunities to film themselves playing to send to schools. If a team or player wants to film the 7v7 scrimmage, they must clear it with Dembowski ahead of time.
“So many colleges these days are relying on workout videos or 7v7 tape for recruiting,” Dembowski said. “These kids are really dependent on that with no season to get a chance to play at the next level.”
A number of ISL schools are finding similar ways to get kids back into football. Belmont Hill, Roxbury Latin, BB&N and Lawrence Academy are four of seven ISL schools competing in weekly 7v7 games on Saturday afternoons. Administrators from each ISL school meet at the beginning of every week to determine what activities their individual pro
grams can participate in during that given week whether it be practices, 7v7 on Saturdays, or neither.
Throughout the week the kids at those respective schools do scrimmage practice under EEA guidelines. Belmont Hill coach Chris Butler said participating in the 7v7 games on Saturdays provides a semblance of normalcy both for his staff and the players.
“It’s great to give the kids an opportunity to go out there and compete,” Butler said. “They have that goal of playing on Saturday so there is something to build up to over the course of the week at practice.”
Similar to the Northeast Regional Fall League season, ISL schools are playing under strict modifications. Each game has three officials who blow whistles when a player with the ball is on the verge of being touched. Defensive backs are not allowed to jam opposing receivers or engage in bump-and-run coverage and may only place one hand on the opposing receiver within five yards.
Those ISL schools not participating in 7v7 are still holding regular practices. At Nobles, coach Panos Voulgaris has had his team practicing two or three times a week since early September. For the most part, Voulgaris is using that time to improve his players’ individual skills, their understanding of the game, and prepare them for any potential season that may take place.
“As long as the kids are having fun, they are engaged, and are being safe. That’s what counts,” Voulgaris said. “For linemen and skill guys it’s about improving their understanding of football and developing those individual skills.”