By David Knox, Sports Editor
TRUSSVILLE – Hewitt-Trussville and Clay-Chalkville will participate for the national championship of 7on7 football beginning Thursday in Hoover.
Forty-eight teams in all will shoot for the title in the three-day competition sponsored by USA Football, which is the sport’s national governing body and a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
USA Football’s 7on7 National Championship is an invitation-only tournament featuring pool and bracket play. Winning teams from 10 state and regional 7on7 tournaments conducted by USA Football this summer, which featured more than 350 high schools and nearly 11,000 coaches and players, received an automatic invitation. Select high school teams also were invited to compete, which is how Hewitt and Clay earned their bids.
Action begins Thursday at 3 p.m. with pool play. Hewitt-Trussville is in Pool B with Buckhorn, Thompson, Grayson, Ga., Shannon, Miss., and Slidell, La. Clay-Chalkville is in Pool E along with Central of Phenix City, Glendale, Mo., Landry Walker, La., Warren Central, Ind., and Wheaton Warrenville South, Ill. Play is on the Hoover High School soccer field and the Hoover Met soccer fields.
Pool play continues Friday at 9 a.m. on those same sites, running until 3 p.m.
Tournament bracket play begins after dinner on Friday, running from 6 to 8 p.m.
Saturday, tournament play continues at 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on the soccer fields.
At 3:30 p.m., the championship game is played at Buccaneer Stadium on the Hoover campus. An awards ceremony follows the game.
Other schools competing include host Hoover, Spain Park, Huffman, Wenonah, Opelika, Austin, McGill-Toolen, Bob Jones, Gadsden City, Hamilton, Carver-Montgomery, Florence, Enterprise, Spanish Fort, Baldwin County and Tuscaloosa County.
Out-of-state schools competing are Cherokee, Ga., Columbus, Fla., Springdale Har-Ber, Ark., Centennial, Ga., Lassiter, Ga., Thomas Jefferson, Pa., Central Gwinnett, Ga., South Forsyth, Ga., Warren Easton, La., Brandon, Miss., Evangel Christian, La., Tate, Fla., Whitehaven, Tenn., Brownsburg, Ind., Fayetteville, Ark., Paducah Tiighman, Ky., Pierce County, Ga., Colquitt County, Ga., Mandeville, La., and Niceville, Fla.