USA National Team Head Coach Hosts Football Camp in March in Germany

The Growth of a Game, in partnership with Hawkins Gridiron Development and the Düsseldorf Panther, will be hosting its first in a series of American football developmental camps this year in Düsseldorf, Germany from March 19th-20th.

The camp, called the “Hawkins Gridiron Skills Camp”, will be led by famed US National Team head coach Dan Hawkins. Hawkins led the US national team to a world championship at the 2015 IFAF World Championship in Canton, Ohio. He captured the Swedish and IFAF Europe Champions League titles as offensive coordinator for the Carlstad Crusaders in 2015. He is also the former head coach of Boise State and the University of Colorado, two premier college football programs in the United States. He has a career collegiate coaching record of 112-61-1 and won 7 conference championships along with 2 coach of the year awards in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

Hawkins will be joined by his son and US National Team assistant coach Cody Hawkins, who will be coaching the quarterbacks. The camp will also include Marc Ellgering, head coach of the Düsseldorf Panther; Daniel Levy, head coach of the Warsaw Eagles in Poland; Gus Tshiani, head coach of the Amay COF Atomics in Belgium; and Dan Morrison, US National Team wide receivers coach. Additional assistants include Eoin O’Sullivan, Matheus Dias, Alexandre Braga, Jag Bal, Clark Evans, Chris Yoder, Greg Watson, and several others.

The camp will focus on skill development for all players 16 and over. Players of all positions are welcome and a maximum of 120 camp roster spots are available. The camp includes 3 on-field practice sessions, 2.5 hours of film study, and a recruiting seminar for players interested in competing in US colleges. In addition to player development, the coaching staff will also be providing instruction to beginner and intermediate coaches in the form of on-field work, film study, and a private coaching clinic on Friday evening. The majority of camp attendees are expected to be from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. All on-field and off-field instruction will take place at Sportpark Nord-Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, one of Europe’s premier sporting facilities.

Discount codes for hotel rooms at the Tulip Inn Düsseldorf Arena and the Jugendherberge Düsseldorf (Youth Hostel Düsseldorf) will be provided on the sign-up page over the next week.

Player fees for the 2-day camp are €99, while coaches fees are €59.

This is a unique opportunity to learn from the US National Team head coach and acquire skills that will help propel your career forward in American football.

As one of the founding members of the German Football League, the Düsseldorf Panther are once again leading the way in the development of the sport of American football. The Panther have won 6 German championships, 2nd most all-time, and won the European championship in 1995. Their U-19 youth football team has also won a record 15 German championships and their alumni include Sebastian Vollmer, offensive linemen and Super Bowl champion for the New England Patriots of the NFL. They are one of the most successful American football clubs in Europe, and after reloading for 2016 they are poised to compete for the championship in the GFL.

This camp is made possible by the contributions of various partners, including Sportstadt Düsseldorf, UPS, Dextro Energy, Avantum, the Tulip Inn Düsseldorf Arena, Biodirekt, and the Jugendherberge Düsseldorf.

For more information and to sign up for the Hawkins Gridiron Skills Camp, please visit: www.growthofagame.com/camps/hawkins-gridiron-skills-camp-2016/

To learn more about the Düsseldorf Panther, visit: www.duesseldorfpanther.de