By: Jabril Shakur, Follow South Jersey Intern
GALLOWAY, N.J. — Future Legends Football Academy (FLFA) offers youth athletes off-season training to take athletes to their “fullest potential by way of intensive on-field training, chalk talk and character building.”
They also offer youth 7v7 football teams.
Future Legends is run by founder Jahmil Shakur, and he gives an insight into the real meaning of FLFA.
“Future Legends, what it does for the community is…it’s really a mentoring program,” Shakur said.
He then explains how he disguises the mentorship by implementing football and working out to grasp the kids’ attention and keep them engaged while also being taught life lessons.
“I tell a lot of the parents that if we use the word mentoring or if I tell them we have a mentoring program, we would be out here by ourselves,” he said. “So we use football, whether it’s tackle, whether conditioning, and whether it’s 7-on-7.”
7v7 is non-contact football that a lot of parents enjoy for their children. A local parent, Jamikah Bruce, expresses how long she’s been with the organization and how she feels about the upcoming season.
“To be honest, I’ve been around for a very long time,” Bruce said. “I actually watched to start from the ground up; this is literally the definition of getting it from the mud.”
Bruce elaborated more on how excited she is for this upcoming 7-on-7 season, not only because she’s been watching it for a very long time, but because this will be her first season to have her Godson involved with the program.
Offensive Coach Dennis Kelly, who’s been coaching with the legends for 8 years, provides us with an understanding of the benefits and lessons the young legends obtain from being there. Coach Kelly feels as though kids coming through Future Legends will surely obtain knowledge of the game of football, and it doesn’t matter what age you are.
“We are teaching you from all levels, from five-year-olds all the way up to college,” Coach Kelly says.
One of the important things that Coach Kelly wanted to highlight about the benefits of a future license is that you will get to know the ins and outs of different positions, you’ll get a great physical workout in, and kids are able to build up their confidence and leave with the mindset and the physicality to play any position at any school of your choice.
We also got some words from the head coach of the team, Kamal Muhammad. He tells us what future legends instilled in him and how they shaped him into the coach he is today.
“For as long as I’ve been out here, Future Legends has instilled in me an understanding of the power of positive reinforcement.” Muhammad says.
He strongly feels as though Future Legends turned him into more of a role model than a coach. He then explains how sometimes he’ll be out and about on a regular day, and a kid that came to the Future Legends program would recognize him and acknowledge him in public and just let them know how much he has done for them.
“I could be out and about, and somebody would say, ‘hey Coach.’ I might not remember the name or the face, and they’ll say, ‘You don’t know what you’ve done for me.’ And that right there puts me in a place where I can say I made an impact,” Muhammad says.
For more information about Future Legends Football Academy send an email to SHAKURJAHMIL@YAHOO.COM or call (609) 992-6886.
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