Youth football steadily evolving into mirror image of AAU hoops
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 7:00PM 
Sophomore quarterback Akeem Jones came to the South Florida Express tryouts as a relative unknown, but will gain massive exposure as a member of the travel squad. (Andy Staples/SI.com)HALLANDALE, Fla. -- Those who drifted over to watch the quarterback group couldn't help but notice the pink socks. When their eyes scanned upward, they couldn't help but notice the player occupying those pink socks. Miami Carol City High sophomore Akeem Jones stands 6-foot-3. He weighs 186 pounds. He's raw, but he can run and he has a bazooka attached to his right shoulder.
Jones came to the tryout for the South Florida Express seven-on-seven team as a relative unknown obscured first by a platoon system and second by a broken ankle this past fall at his school. By Sunday night, he was a member of a team that, a few days earlier, had 10 players from its 2010 roster sign FBS scholarships. A few months earlier, Jones' new team had agreed to an apparel deal with Under Armour that will provide Express players with cleats, uniforms and warmups. (Jones will provide his own pink socks, which he wears to honor the memory of his grandmother, Nelly Kirkland, who died of breast cancer in October.) This spring and summer, Jones and the Express will play teams from other regions of Florida -- and the rest of the country -- in tournaments that match seven offensive skill position players against a group of seven linebackers and defensive backs. read more >>
7 on 7, 7-on-7, 7on7, AAU, South Florida Express in High School 
