Beginning with the 2013 season the NGYFA has inked a deal with BSN Sports (www.bsnsports.com) to recognize one nominated athlete per week for the NGYFA Scholar Athlete of the Week presented by BSN Sports.

The scholar athlete for week 7 of the NGYFA season is 11 year old Habersham County fullback and linebacker, Mason Sprinkle.

"Mason is an excellent football and team player across the board. He is a true leader through his work ethics on and off the field. Mason is a student of the game, always working hard to learn as much as he can in order to be a better player and teammate," said Mason's Head Coach, Jamie Moody. Outside of football, Mason plays basketball and baseball, staying active through sports all year.

In addition to his performance on the field, Mason strives to achieve academic excellence in the classroom. He has scored "Exceeds Expectations" for his grade level in every category of the CRCT for each of the last four years. He has also achieved a perfect score on this test in at least one subject in each of the last two consecutive years. Additionally, he has earned Honor Roll in each of the last three years, since he became eligible in the third grade. In the fourth grade, he won his classroom Spelling Bee. And this past year, he won the Spelling Bee for his entire school. Also, as a fifth grader, he was entered in a Problem Solving Relay Team. It was sponsored by the Habersham County High School Chapter of Mu Alpha Theta, a national mathematics honor society. In this competition, his relay team and his school achieved first place. In addition, he has received acknowledgements during Honor's Day Ceremonies for his musical and art achievements.  Most recently he was invited to join the North Habersham middle School National Junior Beta Club, as a result of his prior academic achievements.

While Mason enjoys bringing the pain from his positions on the field on Saturday it's clear that he wears his hard hat to work every day of the week.