Offense-Defense Partners with Takkle

Representatives from Offense-Defense Sports, the official camp of the NFL Coaches Association and the country’s oldest and largest full-contact football camp organization, today announced that they have partnered with TAKKLE, a social networking Web site specifically designed for high school athletes, coaches, recruiters, friends and fans. Offense-Defense is now the official football camp of TAKKLE, allowing athletes that attend the camps across the country to enjoy their own social networking groups on TAKKLE’s Web site, TAKKLE.com. With this strategic partnership, TAKKLE will provide a rich social networking platform for Offense-Defense Football Camp’s participating athletes.

“We are very excited about our new partnership with TAKKLE,” said Rick Whittier, president of Offense-Defense Sports, “TAKKLE is the newest social network and has a very large following with high school athletes. As the official football camp of TAKKLE, our camp information and videos will be of interest to high school football players which will help us reach young athletes through a new and popular media outlet.”

“We are pleased to partner with Offense-Defense, one of the finest football camps for up-and-coming football players. High school athletes today not only compete on their high school teams, but also spend a lot of time honing their skills at off-season camps,” said David Birnbaum, CEO and co-founder of TAKKLE. “Our partnership with Offense-Defense highlights the value of TAKKLE’s power as a social networking platform to the leading sports brands and companies in the high school market.”

Currently, Offense-Defense runs 51 official football camps, including 36 camps for all athletes between the ages of seven and 18 years-of-age, 12 Select Football Camps for qualified athletes who have the potential to excel on the field, two Elite Football Camps for football players who have the opportunity to play in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, in addition to a number of unofficial football camps held across the country. Through TAKKLE.com, football players attending any of these Offense-Defense Football Camps will be able to view the profiles of other athletes planning to attend their camp, and allow them to remain in contact long after camp ends. Offense-Defense will also be able to upload videos and pictures of all the action at the camps.

Offense-Defense also features the Select and Elite Camps for the more advanced high school football players. The Offense-Defense Select Camps invite the best from the 36 traditional contact camps for three intense days of non-contact, position-specific instruction. The 12 Select Camps are all day camps and operate Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at the same location as the traditional football camps.

The Offense-Defense staff selects the best players from the Select Camps for the Offense-Defense Elite Camps. By invitation only, the Elite campers receive the highest level of individual instruction in the three-day, non-contact day camps with the only cost to the selected players are their transportation to and from camp and accommodations. The Elite Camps were held this year in Miami, Fla. and San Diego, Calif.

As a reward, a selection committee chooses the nation’s best high school football players from the Elite Camp roster to participate in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl with all expenses paid for the participants. The second annual Offense-Defense All-American Bowl will be held January 4, 2008, at the Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami, Fla.