Missouri 8-Man All-Star game brings various athletes to the area
By Calvin Silvers
The campus of Missouri Western has seen some heavy traffic this summer, as multiple schools and athletes have been using the football facilities for teams and summer camps.
This Saturday will be no different, as the 16th annual Missouri 8-Man All-Star game will take place at Spratt Memorial Stadium.
The more than 40 athletes participating, made up of some students and some graduates, showed up on Thursday for the team’s first practice, where individual drills were used to begin, and then the transition into schemes and plays were made.
“It’s pretty fun to be able to put on the pads again,” former Bishop LeBlond player Jackson Sigrist said. “I mean, a lot of these guys, we’ve obviously played against each other and obviously are staying in the dorms together, which makes it a whole lot more fun.”
Not only are the practices used to learn specific plays, but to also slowly get the body used to getting hit and tackled, something some of these players have yet to experience since the fall season.
The teams will be coached by 8-man football coaches from seven teams, including Bishop LeBlond’s Chuck Davis on the green team’s coaching staff.
“We have a bunch of kids who understand the game, who played it at a high level for their particular high schools,” Davis said. “It’s neat to get them together and kind of get to see different techniques.”
Some local schools being represented are Plattsburg, Bishop LeBlond, North Andrew and St. Joseph Christian. While Missouri Western is not centralized for all the 8-man teams, having the game held in Northwest Missouri, an area that supports 8-man football heavily, is good for the sport overall.
“There are kids from all over the state who have never seen LeBlond play or they never seen Albany or Worth Counties and seeing their team’s best player or their team’s couple of best players play with and against everybody’s best player, it’s a lot of fun.”
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday at Spratt Stadium on the campus of Missouri Western.
