ALL-AMERICAN BOWL PRESIDENT

Every year the NFL holds a draft of the top Collegiate players from the prestigious world of College Football. When a young mans name is called on the microphone his life could change forever. Money is dispensed into his account immediately upon signing, in form of a signing bonus and old friends seem to creep out of the wood works, saying "Hey Remember Me!?" Everyone now all of the sudden wants to be your best friend, but we must always remember how and what got us to this point. A majority of the players drafted do not even make a NFL roster, after forgetting that you must evolve with the pack to coincide with greatness. 90 players will attend camp, with only 53 making the final playing rosters. So in essence, 2,880 players attend training camps and only 1,696 will make the final roster, hence receiving a weekly game check. At this point, I hope most athletes did not blow whatever signing bonus they acquired, because the street's do not care once you get CUT. If your lucky enough to get picked up by another NFL team, then you had a great agent and better take full advantage this time. But what if the phone does not ring and your stuck back at home with mom and dad, with or without a degree. Hopefully you acquired that degree and basic knowledge in some field, in order to obtain a job. Most athletes I have found sadly, have not received one or the other and endlessly look at alternative football leagues as paths back to stardom. The road leading back is often rather dreary and complicated, but your pride/ego will not let you quit. You find yourself without adequate meals and slowly turn to drugs and alcohol to numb your pain. You could have chose a more productive route and went out and got better, made connections, helped coach our youth and in the mean time, better your game at the same time! See, whether you like to admit it or not, you were lacking something in the eyes of your organization, so the only conducive solution to this equation is to "make your weaknesses, your strengths". Come back a complete ball player and maybe get another shot, if not, you are still productive in the game and are probably coaching somewhere by now. Losing quality years physically on the field is also a concern for many NFL staffs when you enter ulterior leagues, that sometimes can be even more physical. So by playing in say, Any Arena league, I feel as if you are taking steps backwards when it comes to your so-called dream. You can try the 9 team CFL, where they get only so many import players (players outside Canada) and work your way into the NFL. Our athletes with Scout Trout will receive every opportunity at whatever level they so choose, but we always must keep in mind these numbers. 

Every athlete great or average will have to come to the reality that it is over. Sometimes the greats of the game are left with nothing, because they never took the same mentality that made them great on the field into the real world. They were to absorbed with how great they were on the field and/or pursuing athletic goals, that they never created a solid plan for life after football. Most of the guys I work with still have a shot at the NFL and joining the highest level of Professional Football. How are you going to separate yourself today in order to be apart of that 1.5% statistic? I see a lot of Facebook profiles stating Student-Athlete's are already in the NFL, which makes me believe they truly do not understand how hard it is to be apart of the National Football League. I encourage all of our Scout Trout athletes to start adapting to being great EVERYDAY, in EVERYTHING you do. Your interactions with others, your discipline,  YOUR SCHOOL WORK, your relationships, your faith and most importantly your ATTITUDE! If you control the outside variables, as far as your game is concerned, you will find that the pieces will fall together on the field as well. 

Send your highlights to me at merfdigg@aol.com, facebook, and/or downloaded page so I can make you mix-tape. Video is then posted to Scout Trout's Youtube page, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Videos will also be placed under each profile and in scouting reports. Check out a few I did for prospects below! GOAT Mixtapes are 9.99 and payments can be made by clicking the PayPal button below. Normally can fit up to 8 clips per mix-tape. 

Thanks to one of our new sign ups, Ramsey Sites, father John Sites, and the wonderful staff at Oak Hill High School, we will be using their amazing facilities for our first Regional Event. Registration will begin at 10:00 AM , as players are getting registered/warmed up, I will be conducting a short recruiting seminar and going over very important details, THAT ARE A MUST for your Student-Athlete. The pertinent subjects will include;

• Important documents/applications that need to be completed ASAP, for each student-athlete to be able to receive a Football Scholarship. 
• Dealing with College Recruiters/Coaches from respective Universities. 
• The difference in College Football Divisions/Playing levels and Eligibility rules pertaining to each. 
• Our Combine/Mindfulness Training program for athletes. 
• Why we are the most successful Football Recruiting/Scouting/Training Company in the World, as far as 100% scholarships. 
• How you can join our team and become a Scout Trout Regional Scout. 
• I will be available to answer any questions after we complete our event.

By now our Student-Athletes should be warmed up properly and ready to compete at a high level on film.  

​Teenagers live in a world that bombards them with constant stress—school, family, work, relationships, sports, extra-curricular activities, ACT’s, SAT’s, prom, phone, computers, dating, social media, Facebook, Instagram…..and the list goes on.
When you feel constant stress and anxiety, day in and day out, what do you do?  How do you cope?
Do you ever get to a place of feeling calm, focused, thoughtful, and happy?  When was the last time you were able to sit quietly and be ‘in the moment’, not stressing about all the mistakes of yesterday or worried about what will happen in an hour, day, year?  
Let’s talk about being ‘mindful’---being in the moment, recognizing how you fell right now, with no judgement, only kindness. 
There is a lot of research that suggests practicing Mindfulness can help you mentally and physically:  decreasing anxiety and anger, boosts energy, improves sleep, boosts concentration and focus, improves mood and happiness, helps heart function, improves self-esteem, and reduces chronic pain.  

Being Mindful can also help us rewire our brains and strengthen the smart part of our brain (pre-frontal cortex) so we are able to respond to stress in a healthier manner. 
Athletes are seeing the benefits of incorporating Mindfulness in their training practices.  Athletes spend hours every day working out their body to improve their skills in the game, and now also realize they need to focus on working their brain in order to deal with the mental aspect of the game.
 
So, how do you do this?  How do you train your brain to respond to things in a calm, thoughtful way, instead of with anger, irritability, and negative emotions?  It’s easy, doesn’t take a ton of time, and can be done anywhere, anytime, anyplace.  
 
The best place to start is with your breath. 
 
Belly Breathing:  Use your breathing to calm your thoughts and settle your brain.  When we intentionally focus on our breathing, ​we calm the alarm part of our brain that takes in all the anxiety, and we began to relax and focus.  Make sure you take slow belly breathes, inhaling for 4 or 5 seconds and exhaling for 4 to 5 seconds.  Try to really concentrate on your breaths in and out, if your mind wanders, just go back to the breathing.  Do this for a minute before a test or a game to help your body and mind connect and perform your best.
Catch your Thoughts:  What we think about is what will flourish and grow in our brains and lives.  If we constantly are thinking of negative things, that is what will flourish in our brains and lives and make us more miserable and unhappy.   When we intentionally pay attention to happy and positive things we feel happier.  Pretty simple.  Every morning when you wake up, take some deep belly breaths and think about something or someone that makes you happy—focus on all the wonderful things about this person, place, or thing.  Do this for one minute in the morning, and one minute before bed.  This practice will help rewire your brain to be more thoughtful and happy.  

Our last three athlete's that have joined the Scout Trout Pipeline Program have all now received offers and have numerous school's pursuing them. I have known Xavier King for sometime now and he is a amazing athlete at the Receiver position. He is a tough young man who possesses skills that translate into what I like to call a "young Randy", meaning he could pan out to be the next Randy Moss (Goat). That being said, Xavier messaged me about going the JUCO route after not testing well and has heard from 8 Juco/NAIA programs including Ottawa (Surprise AZ), Scottsdale CC (AZ), Webber Int (FL), Hinds CC, Hutch CC, Northland and NDSCS.  

When it comes to dynamic athletes, Juwaun Mcfalls can do a lot of things on a football field. Juwaun was able to post a 4.48, 40 yard dash and can play both sides of the football at a high level. He showed great route running ability and caught nearly everything within his range. Juwaun has now heard from Kentucky Christian, Lindenwood - Belleville and Arkansas Baptist! Juwaun is looking to get a education and continue his dreams of playing football at a high level. 

Felix is a phenomenal athlete at the kicking position and was able to post a 4.14, 40 yard dash, which can be seen in his youtube video. Felix has great hands and did not drop one pass, but what was extremely impressive was his kicking abilities. Felix is able to strike from as far as 60 yards and has become very consistent. The height that Felix is able to achieve on his kicks are second to none at his age.  Felix highlight's have been taking off on social media and he has made a few world wide top 5 plays! We also were featured on the front page of the Overtime app today! Follow me on instagram @merf_trout and on twitter @scouttrout122! Felix has already received 3 offers in Kentucky Christian, Arkansas Baptist and Lindenwood-Belleville! This young man is going to be a special kicker at the next level with his power and accuracy! 

In a advantageous way to help my athletes prepare for the evolution of the Collegiate scouting process, I am now training athletes weekly in combine related events, along with football activities to prepare them for the next level. Upon enrolling in my program we get your information out to every school in America that offers scholarships. With this not being my  goal, we develop you and prepare you FULLY, for everything you will need to be prepared for at the next level. Our next meeting is here in Colorado in preparation for our Colorado Regional Mini Camp. We have a great group of athletes already attending and will be working with athletes from Rangeview High School as well. All athletes 25 and under that aspire to play Collegiate/Pro football should attend. Information is attached in buttons below about our program. 

There have been a lot of decisions to make over the past month about the direction we are heading with Scout Trout. Since the inception of the Scout Trout Pipeline program, I have been vigorously asked to turn into a non-profit cooperation. If you really know me, I am extremely nice to everyone I meet for the first time and I value being respectful to ALL walks of life. I do not take my life for gran-tit as no matter what we accomplish, there always seems like bigger obstacles to overcome. We were recently almost bought out by some big time people. I really never thought I could turn down such a large amount of cash in my life. When offered by we will say Bobby Boucher, I looked back at where I came from and how I built this through pain and torment, after the worst concussion of my life. I looked at all the young men that are now some of my best friends and who I am beginning to see myself in, which can scare you a little bit. I realized these kids from broken homes who are abused, tormented, homeless, malnourished and mentally not alright are in need of a "ESCAPE Plan". I myself have felt like running and escaping situations at a young age and found a way to do it constructively, while facing your own problems head on, simply by re-locating. Some people will say you can't run from your problems, well I have learned the grass can be much greener on the other side if you take the proper steps to give it LOVE! I have learned through my career that nothing can trump Love, kindness, humility, passion, grace, mercy, and the most importantly HUNGER! I have so many people to still prove wrong that I became a blood-thirsty animal, who sought out revenge on these individuals, who set out to solely remove me from this earth/game. I have learned that there is NO program like the one we have built and it includes pretty much anyone that desires to better themselves through the game of football and give back! By giving back myself I have gotten to experience a lot of great things in the world and I have gotten to bring happiness to households that had very little hope. I was told you can't be a good person all the time in this business and I have been also told I am pretty cut-throat, when it comes to how I expect things done. There is a reason for this mentality, see some of us have been around (Even thou I am 30) some of the oldest and wisest in our game. Some of us studied tendencies instead of play calling and read emotions, interactions and charisma instead. The best in the game ALL do it a certain way and they all have one thing in common, THEY ARE WINNERS! 

Here is a very broad description of how non-profits operate and now I am going to list the amazing programs we are going to incorporate in our Not for Profit Organization. I want to start with the numerous social issues that I have encountered in my first go around with Class of 2017, where now 98% of our players have signed to play College Football. As you know, we run mini camps all over the USA, notably the Reese's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Some of my camps I have had athlete's show up without proper foot ware and/or no shoes at all. I actually had a kid run a 4.4 flat barefoot after he did not fit in one of the pairs I brought. These same kids are also not even getting two daily meals a day and some were even out on the street, because of more severe social issues. These same kids with a shove in the right direction are the next stars of tomorrow if given a fighting chance.  These situations will ALWAYS come first in our mission, because without quality of life, we cannot perform to our full potential. Unfortunately, I have been on both sides of this fence myself and I started to learn how to pray without ceasing. The more I  prayed the more my head began to clear and I could make clear and concise choices, that ultimately would lead me to serving others, while being completely content with my life. I am very fortunate to be bringing the Colorado Social Worker of The Year on our board of directors, to assist us in these vital decisions for our Elite Student-Athletes! Thank you Tricia VanHorssen for your continued dedication to our Student-Athletes!  

Many others have expressed their respective opinions on me launching a full-fledged SAT/ACT nationwide program. With going non-profit, they are able to fully fund our educational programs and we can make sure all of our players meet the minimum requirements that the NCAA has set in place.  I have the best tutors/teachers, who we will have available online and in classroom atmosphere, to assist our Student-Athlete's in achieving proper eligibility.  I had about 12 players who did not meet the academic requirements and have to attend Junior College programs. These young men are all brilliant in their own right and a test surely does not properly evaluate whether our guys can be functioning Students in College. I believe if we properly were able to teach them the different testing strategies and clear their minds of distractions, they all would be qualified and on scholarship, at a four year institution. We will also offer tutoring in any subject that they are struggling with and get to the real root of the issue. Sometimes its as simple as eating breakfast and a cup of coffee to get these young brains firing. Then you have situations where the teacher clearly does not like the star athlete. This is a situation I found myself in time and time again, why? Because some people think we are playing a barbaric mid-evil game and were pretty much stupid. They obviously failed to realize the amazing things we learn from our game, but that's another subject. Haters are not just your peers, I had a Catholic Priest belittle me everyday in High School for being a prime time athlete, I just decided to keep breaking records and sliding the newspaper under his office door. We choose our destination, not them! You have control of your reactions, your actions, your drive, your motivation and YOUR EFFORT! Not the guy who wants to know all the bad stuff you done in a booth. In short, this program is the ultimate game changer for our student-athletes and will clear up many eligibility issues. One question I received was, Don't they have this program in school's already? My reply is yes, but just like every profession, there is always bad apples that play favorites or simply are hating on the Star player. The fact that College Football players are going to be paid this year and get a free education is only going to make people who don't understand life, hate us more. I have also learned that these programs all cost money in most places and my athlete's simply don't have the means to enroll in such a program. All in all, Our program will always be catered towards the ultimate success of each individual athlete and their respective goals. 

This foundation provides scholarships for our student-athletes to attend school's like the IMG Academy and/or Prep School. I got the pleasure to attend Hargrave Military Academy and play with some of the best players in the Country at the time. We had 40 some odd players sign to play in Division one football and it was very costly, so my father sold a Pitt Bowl ring to help cover my self-made scholarship. To this day that still hurts, even thou he does not care about a ring, nor any materialistic items. This basically is your opportunity to help a young man who we believe demonstrates ULTIMATE character and has fine athletic abilities. If one of my Athletes Stephen Gaines could have played anywhere else, but the 0-10 Wichita Falls Coyotes, things would have been much different. But as losing programs do, they attempted to discredit me and Mr. Gaines abilities, who reminds me of a young Herchel Walker. There are many other reasons for our scholarship foundation, but ultimately this will help cover the remaining balances and bye books for class. These scholarships will also help with the cost of our Mini-Camps, staffing, facility rentals and insurance. 

When you enroll in my University you become part of the solution and not part of the problem. What I mean by this is our scouting system is severely top loaded and broken with half of the College Football recruits coming from four states in GA/CA/TX/FL. The rest of the USA has the same number of recruits in all 46 states, which to me does not add up properly after evaluating every states players. This is for several reasons and #1 is the recruiting budgets that are strictly enforced, that does not allow a coach to go outside a certain area. It is impossible for any school to properly scan over the entire crop of High School football players in today's game. After completion of our 3-4 week course and/or signing up 5 athlete's for our program, you can either set up your own scouting division and your recruiting budget will be vast. This knowledge could land you in a real recruiting job and or scouting job at the College/Pro levels. If bettering our youth's futures and our world/sport as a whole, then this University is for you. We are now attached to 100% results for Class of 2017 and I am not just talking scholarships. When a problem arises we learn how to first take care of our athlete and then secondly we fix the issue in a productive manner, that keeps us ALL on the right path to freedom and success. Thank you for all of those who have already joined our mission and I will be announcing our entire Board of Directors here in the next few days. If you would like to be on the board in some capacity contact me @merfdigg@aol.com. 

We have made major headway on where we intend to bring the "Pipeline Program" to and are succeeding in many ways. I am extremely please with my team of coaches/scouts/mentors and my players parents. You all have a chance to be apart of this in anyway you so choose, as I am thankful for each and everyone of you, because without your love for your child, this would never have been possible. Know that I worked to wits end sometimes to make your child's dream a reality. Also know I will continue to work on behalf of your Student-Athlete with anything you need. Going by the numbers not everyone is going to make the right choice the first time around. I will be there is you need to transfer and have all of the transfer rules embedded in my Compliance Officer side of the brain. The system is becoming more set up for the athlete, as College Football players now will receive compensation for their respective play. There is still a lot of work to be done on all of our parts to ensure the integrity of our nation and beloved game that has instilled these amazing values inside of us. I also choose Jesus daily in my personal life and he has not led me astray yet. Have I been led astray a few times? Of Course, but all in all, there is nothing like his sacrifice on the cross for my salvation. You all mean the world to me and I cannot thank everyone again for the loyalty, encouragement and dedication to our student-athletes and the PIPELINE PROJECT, which has now evolved into something very special. 

The University of North Carolina Tar Heels showed why they are Scout Trout's all-time favorite team! I still to this day state that Vince Carter was a better Tar Heel than the GOAT Michael Jordan and Rasheed Wallace is still probably the greatest Tar Heel of All-Time. UNC has hoisted the trophy now six times and are what others in College Basketball strive to be. The Tar Heels reign supreme over Duke time and time again and have been led by some of the greatest coaches of All-Time. Roy Williams got his third national title and nobody in Tar Heel land sees him slowing down anytime soon. I am so excited I am offering 50% off our 2017 Regional Mini-Camp/Combines, that could ultimately lead to our 2018 Scout Trout Senior Bowl Week Showcase! We have ten locations we will be scouting profusely for talent nationally. I relentlessly encourage early sign-ups so you can fully experience the entirety of the "Pipeline Program" and get a College Football Scholarship!  We have had early registrations in Ohio and they have already been asked to take visits to D1 programs! This is a great time to be apart of the most trusted name in recruiting and join us in our efforts to evolve the scouting process! 

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• Arizona - April 22nd - Shadow Mountain HS : 5 PM Registration 
• Ohio - April 29th - Columbus OH (Driving Park) 
• Tennessee - May 27th - Northview Academy (Kodak TN)​
• Colorado - June 3rd - Dicks Sporting Goods Park (Denver) 
• NC/SC - June 24th - Charlotte/Fort Mill  
• Pennsylvania - July 8th - Pittsburgh PA 
• Kansas - July 22nd - Wichita KS 
• Texas - Dec 2nd - Dallas TX
• Texas - Dec 9th - Houston TX
• National Showcase - Senior Bowl 2018 Mobile Alabama (Sage Park)