2012: A Year in Review

Chicago Bears WR Dale Moss

When the ball dropped on 2011, I'm not sure I had any idea how different things would be one year later. This year saw the launch of Riggs Premier Football and the creation of the Sanford POWER Football Academy. It has been a challenging and rewarding venture, and it is fun to look back at how far we have come!

I have been asked frequently over the years to train football players, and the demand for off season training is at an all time high. Watching my son play youth football convinced me I could contribute to instilling fundamentals for young athletes and find opportunities to work with higher caliber athletes as well.

When we launched the program in July, the Fieldhouse was still under construction, so we started trainings at the USF Sports Complex in the intense summer heat. We started off with five clients and also had a unique opportunity to work with Dale Moss right before he headed to the NFL. It was really awesome to see how the training could benefit athletes who were 8 years old all the way up to the pros! 

Will and Coach Sanders

The Fieldhouse opened on September 4th, and after training during the very hot summer, that was a welcome event! The Fieldhouse is a remarkable facility, and it is great to have a partner like Sanford that shares common goals for local athletes and develops the facilities to back up those goals. The Fieldhouse is essentially a NFL training facility and gives our athletes the very best opportunities in this area to train.

We hosted a community Grand Opening event at the Fieldhouse for around 200 kids in late September, spent a lot of time talking with parents and athletes at FCA and Junior Football games, and basically started telling people what the Sanford POWER Football Academy offers. Our client numbers continue to grow, we have fine tuned our program offerings to meet client needs, and we just hosted a first of its kind Holiday Camp event this past week. We brought in 150 athletes, ages third grade through high school, and ran two days of camps and passing tournaments. It was really tremendous to see so many young athletes coming in to compete and work their craft in the winter months! 

BVHS and LHS in 7 on 7 Holiday Passing Tourney

As I reflect on 2012, I have been very fortunate to have surrounded myself with talented people. This is not something I can do alone, and I have excellent coaches and assistants who are key to delivering the very best product to our clients. It is also a privilege to work with athletes who are very committed to getting better, and families who share a passion for football and want their kids to learn the "right way" to play 

the game. When we combine all those qualities, we are seeing great results all the way around!

So what does 2013 have in store? We will be continuing our 7 on 7 competitions, we will be hosting both full contact and non-contact camps this summer, we hope to develop satellite workouts in the area, and of course, we will maximize our individual and small group trainings at the Fieldhouse.

Thanks to all who have been part of the 2012 journey. We look forward to even better things in 2013!