National Gridiron 365 | Archive | June, 2009

The Brooklyn Park Broncos Youth Athletic Organization was founded in 1990 by David Marcus. Marcus was with the Andover Apaches for nine years prior to starting the Brooklyn Park Organization, which runs football, lacrosse, and a cheer program all from same location. The central facility makes it easy for friends and family to carpool and participate in multiple activities through the same organization. 

Marcus maintains all the fields and has one bleacher for fans. In  19 years he has never had an escalated incident between rival teams; he makes sure that parents understand that his programs are for kids, and holds a no nonsense policy for swearing, drinking, fighting, or making the atmosphere unpleasant for spectators and players. The organization has a playbook for all ages so that players can learn a system and improve with each season. There are no cuts, and Marcus ensures all of his coaches know how to communicate with players: requiring them to attend at least two coaches’ clinics per year.   

Antonio McDuffie, Brooklyn Park’s Football Commissioner, has been involved with football for his entire life; he even played several years of semi-pro ball with the Baltimore Rams and the Brooklyn Broncos. McDuffie joined Brooklyn Park’s Youth program in 2003 and became the program’s football commissioner last year. Antonio has brought a winning attitude to the program, boasting the program’s best winning percentage in Brooklyn Park’s history last year; he has also helped to create an atmosphere for learning. 

This is shown through Brooklyn Park’s first annual pre season football clinics, which run twice a month for three days a week. The cost for participants is $25 and usually yields new players each session. The goal of the program is to teach the games fundamentals, provide a safe learning environment for newcomers to football before they participate in contact drills, and to bring more kids into the program. MDYF had a chance to attend one of the clinics and below is a general 

breakdown: 

Ferron Carter, strength and conditioning specialist with seven years of training experience runs this session of the camp. Carter is a Bowie State alumnus where he played Tight End on the football team and was a Basketball standout. This year is Carter’s second with Brooklyn Park, and while he has worked with: The Baltimore Ravens, University of Maryland, Loyola, and Goucher College it’s refreshing to see an established trainer give back to the youth. Carter’s training helps rookies and veterans to football learn to control their bodies when cutting, jumping, and sprinting with no restrictions.   

On the second and third day of camp, McDuffie and several members of Brooklyn Parks Coaching staff (listed below) run all players through fundamental offensive and defensive drills to help give them an overview on both sides of the ball. All players run the same drills and the structure is simple, giving players two things to remember per station, so that athletes can practice and train at home. 

Coaches: 

• Bryan Hall (2 years with Brooklyn Park)

• Calvin Montgomery (12 years with Brooklyn Park)

• Trey Hill (6 years with Brooklyn Park) 

• Frank McKinney Jr. (6 years with Brooklyn Park)

Brooklyn Park is doing a great job to improve Maryland’s football at the youth level and MDYF looks forward to working with them in the future to advance progress even further!