Former high school and college players can’t wait to get back on the gridiron through a new minor league football team based in Greenwood.
The Delta Blaze will play its first game Saturday at Hughes Field in Jackson against the Mississippi Raiders.
The team has 42 players from throughout the Delta, ranging in age from 18 to 33. All played high school ball, and about two-thirds played at least some in college, according to team president Charles Cooley.
“They can’t wait, and there’s the opportunity for them to be able to move on. A lot of them are saying, ‘This is a chance I never knew I’d get,’” he said.
The Blaze are part of the Gridiron Developmental Football League. They play in the Gulf Coast North Division and will play teams from an area spanning between Louisiana and Pensacola, Fla.
Players are unpaid and retain their amateur status. Cooley said he hopes they’ll get exposure to scouts from the Arena and Canadian football leagues or maybe even the NFL.
Their first home game will be at 7 p.m. June 9 at Amanda Elzy High School. At least the first two games will be there. Home games will be televised on WHCQ of Cleveland, which is Channel 7 on cable.
The head coach is Darrell Sproles, a former Greenwood High and Mississippi Valley State University football player.
Cooley, a Greenwood firefighter, previously started a peewee football league when he saw young players weren’t prepared when they reached high school. He noticed another missing ingredient with the adult league.
“I saw an opportunity for some of the younger guys that came straight out of high school or even college who didn’t have the same opportunities of athletes coming out of bigger cities,” he said.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@ gwcommon-wealth.com.
