New opportunities for Akeem Davis created challenges to old ones – namely his work to continue AD47 Football Leadership Academy, which he instituted five years ago.
Earlier this year, Davis, who served as Defensive Graduate Assistant at Southern Miss from 2017-2018 was promoted to a full-time position as Cornerback Coach. The new job came with lots of NCAA restrictions – restrictions that threatened the continuation of his annual youth football camp nearing its fifth consecutive year.
“With me being a full-time coach at Southern Miss, and the NCAA having so many restrictions on Division 1 coaches [in their reactions with] high school athletes, there was a lot of red-tape to go through,” said Davis. “At first I was going to scrap this year’s camp and not even do it, but fortunately enough the Lord wouldn’t let me.
Despite the sea of red tape and piles of paperwork, the fifth annual AD47 Football Leadership Academy is set for this Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon at Laurel High School.
“We cleared the red tape at the last minute, but we’re cleared to go,” added Davis. “We’re excited. Our corporate sponsors came together and did a phenomenal job to put this thing together for a fifth consecutive year. And I believe it will be better than ever and the best one yet.”
Community support, in what Davis refers to as monetary “investments,” help fund the AD47 Football Leadership Academy – as it has in years past.
“I appreciate the consistent support of our community–from parents to volunteers, to the companies that have stepped up and identified with the values and life lessons we are passing along to these kids,” said Davis. “The Laurel corporate community has extended its support, but the AD47 platform is more of an investment than a gift. In an investment, you expect to see a positive return on your money, whereas a gift is simply made out of kindness with no expectation of return.
“When you look at what we’ve done over the 1st four years and what we have in store for year 5 and beyond, this is truly a positive investment in the Laurel community, and we’re grateful for our corporate partners and their continued belief in our program and the young lives we are shaping.”
Major investors in the camp include: The Essmueller Company, The First Bank, South Central Regional Medical Center Sports Group, Laurel Ford, Chik-Fil-A, Busby Company, Fins, Signs First (Hattiesburg), Coca Cola, and Piggly Wiggly.
The camp will host 100 local kids, as it has for the last three years. When the camp first began, AD47 opened itself to 53 area kids – the number of roster spots allowed by a given NFL team. Since then, Davis has doubled the number of participants allowed to 100.
Davis said the camp is about sowing seeds. He’s seen several former camp attendees excel in sports as well as in life.
“There has two former [camp attendees] that have stood out to me,” said Davis. “Alan Follis is one. He was our camp MVP that very first year we hosted AD47. He’s done a phenomenal job at West Jones as their quarterback. I got a chance to work with him at a football camp at Southern Miss recently. I just sat back and watched him. Leadership just popped off of him. Did our camp (AD47) have anything to do with that? Who truly knows, but only the fact that you get to watch him, and other guys like him carry out those things we tried to sow into them is a blessing to see.
“Then there’s Abraham McKensley Jr., who is now a basketball and football player for Laurel High School. He’s a young man that I am proud of. It’s such a blessing to watch these guys grow and mature. And like I said with Follis, who knows if our camp had anything to do with how these young men turned out, but its good to see them excel and to know that the camp could have likely been part of the reason why.”
From its creation in 2015, the one-day football camp has used the sport to teach what Davis calls “the five pillars of success.” This year is no exception.
“I use these five pillars to live my own life by,” said Davis. “These same five pillars we’ve had since we first started. We use football situations to give them examples of what it’s going to be like in real life. I tell everyone that football is the great teacher of life. It’s also the honey that attracts the bees. When we attract the bees through the honeycomb, we leave them with our five pillars.”
The five pillars include: character, leadership, follow through, disciple, and grit.
The camp is set for Saturday morning at Laurel High School. Registration will begin at 7 a.m.
Notes:
Coaches for the AD47 Camp include: Keon Howard (QB at Tulane), Curry Benn-(DB at USM), Omar Bayless (WR at Arkansas State), Thakarius Keys (DB at Tulane), Dontreal Pruitt (QB Coach at East MS), Tre Davis (DB at USM), Cardis Pearson (local fireman), Markel McLaurin (DB at USM), Earnest Gunn (DB at USM), and Malik Shorts (DB at USM).
