USA Football Kicks Off National Conference at the Pro Bowl

ORLANDO, FL – The nation’s largest annual gathering of high school and youth football administrators and coaches is officially underway as USA Football hosts its fifth annual National Conference this weekend at the Orange County Convention Center. This year’s event has a large emphasis on player safety and the public’s perception of the game of football, which was highlighted in the conference’s keynote address on Friday evening

Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who played free safety for South Miami High School in the late 1980s, opened the keynote address by talking about the core values he learned growing up playing football. The qualities he noted were accountability, competitiveness, sacrifice and resiliency while recalling his football career, which earned him a scholarship at Tarkio College in Missouri before he transferred to the University of Florida.

“Football teaches you that you’re only going to get out of what you put into it, and that’s an important life lesson,” said Senator Rubio. “If you’re willing to put in the work and sacrifice on the front end, that’s how you’re going to get to it. That’s very valuable in football, but it’s even more valuable in life.”

In 2015, Rubio announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination and recalled how it felt to come up short on his efforts, but credited how he was able to rebound from it to playing football.

“Above everything else that I’ve learned playing football, (resiliency) is the thing that has stuck with me longest,” he suggested. “I can tell you categorically that I have learned much more from defeat than I ever have from victory. I have learned a lot more from failure than I have from success because when you don’t succeed, it causes you to stop and think to yourself ‘why didn’t it work’ and ‘what do I need to do to get better?’”

The leadership conference focused on advancing and growing the game of football by emphasizing the positive experiences and values learned as Senator Rubio outlined.

USA Football CEO and Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck discussed the non-profit’s role in the marketplace. He explained the encouraging factors of the evolution and cited improvements to the dedicated efforts of overall safety.

“We have to do a better job at communicating with mom, the great things that are happening (in the game of football),” Hallenbeck explained. “We are evolving and we are absolutely getting better. There is a great commitment to advancing and growing this game.”

Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Cris Carter closed out the keynote address by expressing his gratitude to the game, which he credits to changing his life.

“Football has been so good to me, and it wouldn’t have been if it wasn’t for people like yourselves,” Carter told the audience, which was comprised of many youth football coaches and administrators. “The game is at a critical juncture from a media standpoint – moms are terrified, but the game is safer now than it has ever been. We need to make sure that we communicate that to people.”

He continued by demonstrating how the game of football molded him into a good role model for society.

“Almost all of the principals that I’ve utilized in trying to be a good man, a good son, a good husband, a good employee, and a good friend I learned from this game of football<” “So every day I try to let people know what football has done for me. Football has changed my life – I’m here because I owe it to the game to let you know how good it is.”

The three-day event (January 26-28) is expected to unite more than 1,000 participants for three days of professional and program development during the NFL’s Pro Bowl week. A variety of vendors from all across the country will be in attendance and it is a must-attend for youth football coaches and administrators.