4 area football players to take part in 8th Grade All-American Game
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The Hall of fame game in Canton, Ohio may be over for the professional football players but there are still games to be played. In fact the 8th grade East-West Hall of Fame Game is set for Friday.
Four young players from Indianapolis are on the roster. Only 60 kids from the entire country were chosen to play in the All-American 8th Grade team this year that game gets played during the enshrinement week in Canton, Ohio
Sterling Smith, Preston Jarvis, Damon Ward Jr. and Chris Jordan Jr. say their friendship goes beyond the football field, it also comes in handy when plying Fortnite together. Jordan and Ward go to Creston Middle School in Indianapolis. Sterling goes to Fishers Junior High and Preston goes to Brownsburg Middle School.
The boys met at a camp on IUPUI’s campus a few years ago and got to play together for team Indiana and have remained friends. Team Indiana won the championship the year they all played together.
This weekend they are trying to do it again but for the All-American 8th Grade Hall of Fame game. For the kids it’s just fun but for their parents, it’s about much more than football.
According to Heather Smith, Sterling’s mom, all the parents are looking to raise their children to be service minded and to think of others.
“What you’ll find from every family here is, we are very service minded.” said Smith. “[Football] is just a platform and what we hope for our kids is that their talent will take them as far as they want to go but if they do this only for themselves I think all this time is for nothing.”
The kids will also be featured on the “Top 100 middle schoolers” by national preps.
The game is set for Friday at 2:30 p.m. Watch the game live online here.