The final Atlanta Falcons Heads Up Football Clinic of the Spring took place in Gainesville at Riverside Military Academy and gathered the largest participation to-date in the state of Georgia.  A beautiful sunny evening set the stage for 165 youth athlete participants and 85 parents in attendance for the informational session.

Some of the notable attendees were current Atlanta Falcons players Sean Baker, Gabe Carimi and Dominique Davis, Riddell representative Bill Peake and Brian Parker from the Taylor Hooton Foundation

The NGYFA is a certified Heads Up Football League and did a fantastic job assisting with spreading the word about the clinic.  Many parents were intrigued with the information and following the info session asked additional questions to expand their knowledge of supplements, concussion awareness and proper equipment fitting.  Atlanta Falcons players motivated the youth athletes at the beginning of the clinic and did a great job instructing proper Heads Up Football tackling techniques.  Once the camp concluded parents, coaches and children expressed gratitude to the Atlanta Falcons players and staff for a fantastic clinic. 

A lot of positive parental feedback occurred throughout the event. "I'm here today to learn how safety is important in pro sports, as well as in youth sports.  I appreciate the Falcons hosting clinics like this one, not only to teach us about safety, but show us how to prevent injuries, both as a coach, and a parent," said Angie McDonald, parent of a 10 year old participating in the clinic.

"Buddy Curry was so motivational --you can tell that he is sincere about what he is teaching and really has a passion for sharing his knowledge of the game with us…especially teaching the proper way to tackle," said Chris Still, father to both 8 and 11 year boys.  "We've listened to a lot of people speak in the past  -- but Buddy was one of the best-- you can tell Buddy really wants to keep you engaged in the conversation, informed, and that he really cared that you were getting the information for your son."

"This clinic takes a proactive approach, to teach parents how to deal with sports safety.  You hear so much about concussion awareness in media -- there was just a story done here in GA about helmet inspections, and how many of the helmets were not up to standards…   I came to this clinic tonight to make sure our association had up-to-date information, and make sure the coaches had up-to-date information to keep the parents informed," said Kim Bennett, mom of a 9 year. "It is great that a professional organization like the Falcons is sharing this cutting edge knowledge, with parents; this type of information was not available years ago, when my first son was going through youth sports (I have an 18 year old and a 9 year old.)   I'm ecstatic that the Falcons made this information available to us."

The next clinic will be on Tuesday, May 13 in Atlanta at the Harland Boys & Girls Club for the first flag football clinic of the year.

Photo by Jason Hales Photography