AFCA to Announce NATS at Annual Convention

The American Football Coaches Association is using the platform provided at its annual convention to announce NATS to the nation’s college and high school coaches.

NATS will be formally introduced by AFCA Executive Director Grant Teaff and Notre Dame Head Coach Tyrone Willingham during the convention’s general membership assembly meeting. The announcement will be the culmination of a three-year research and development program that began in 2002 with the AFCA’s appointment of a task force of college and high school coaches whose mission was to establish a nationwide system of standardized athletic testing and an Internet based information resource center for high school football players.

The final phase of NATS development concluded in 2004 with the launch of the NATS website and the successful operation of the first NATS Tests by the high school coaches associations in six states including Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee and New Jersey.

“The goal of the AFCA Board of Trustees was to determine if it would be possible to standardize athletic testing that could be beneficial to student-athletes and college coaches. The second goal was to provide a web-based site that could provide academic and athletic information to all colleges and universities at no charge. I believe both goals have been substantially met by NATS,” states Grant Teaff.

Attended by more than 5,000 members, the annual AFCA convention is the flagship event of the AFCA and the largest gathering of football coaches in the country. The convention will be held this year from January 9-12, 2005, at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. A designated NATS meeting room will be staffed throughout the convention to discuss NATS in more detail and answer questions from college and high school coaches in attendance from around the country.