Local youth footballer travels U.S. playing favorite sport

BY BRIAN HAMILTON
Managing Editor
brian@pcherald.com

GORDO - Gordo 7th-grader Emory Virden began participating in Offense-Defense football camps a little over a year ago and has been playing against other youth football players all over the U.S.
“It’s really exciting, but it’s like nerve wracking at first because you don’t know anybody,” said Virden, but he noted that the more camps he attends, the more familiar faces he begins to see.
Offense-Defense is a full-contact football camp for ages ranging from youth through high school. The camps use a curriculum that is developed by NFL and college football coaches. Both Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson are recognizable names that have went through the Offense-Defense program, along with other notable college and professional athletes.
“We basically started out at a football camp in Atlanta and if you do good, you get selected,” Emory said. “Well, I did good and I got a performance award. After I got the performance award, I got selected to go to Miami (for an all-star game). If you did good in Miami, then you got selected to go to Dallas. So, I did good in Miami and then a month later, I got selected to go to Dallas.”