Distance Traveled: 6,509km

States Visited: Florida (Miami, Orlando), West Virginia (Triadelphia), Michigan (Brighton), Washington DC, New York (Rochester)

Tournaments Attended: 7

Games Played: 69

Schools Visited: University of Miami, Georgetown University, University of Central Florida (UCF)

MIAMI

Our season starts with our 18u travelling to face the highest level of competition to set our marker for the months ahead.

The Battle South Florida Invitational is the first tournament on the circuit which means most of the big, Battle sponsored programs are out in force to get their season underway.

With graduating 15u players coming into the 18u team MVP had solid optimism that this year would not be too big for a more experienced group.

Game 1 proved to be a close affair, with complimentary football keeping MVP toe-to-toe with the RAW Talent team. With a 1-point lead on the final play, the MVP pass held up in the wind and was intercepted to give RAW Talent the win.

Game 2 against Defcon Texas Purple, a perennial powerhouse, went exactly as the last two meetings. For half of the game MVP held their own with defensive stops and explosive offensive plays, but once the floodgates opened the experience and speed of Defcon showed out in an eventual 36-98 victory.

Game 3 against NY Hustle was where it all came together for MVP. Behind multiple defensive stops and some clock eating offensive drives the MVP team ran out 17-8 winners.

While not as successful as everyone wanted, a 1-2 record and a rank of 32 from 43 teams, the performance showed that the gap is closing with the US programs each year.

Sundays playoff game was a real disappointment with MVP Falling to Defcon Texas Black 24-3 after an abject performance. The coaches took a lot of time to reinforce to the players how off-field actions, individual attitudes, and approach to preparation can all have a hugely negative or positive impact on what happens between the white lines.

Everything with these tournament trips is a learning opportunity, maturity will be measured by how these players react to their own behaviour and performance.

TRIADELPHIA

For the first time in MVP program history we took 4 teams to a tournament, the inaugural event in the PA Elite Winter Championship Series.

12u were up first, early in the morning. While returning many players from last year the MVP team was still physically smaller compared to their US opponents, who also have the advantage of playing Middle School Football each Fall.
While some strong defence was on display it took the MVP offence a while to get warmed up and the team finished with an 0-3 record on the Saturday.
Facing the host PA Elite team on Sunday MVP played their most complete game but just couldn’t overcome the bigger, more experienced players and exited the tournament.

The 14u team were next up. Consisting of mostly new players to the 7v7 arena meant the MVP team would be overcoming the whole ‘first tournament experience’ while trying to outplay their opponents.
After an unsurprising shaky start against a type of speed these players don’t usually see, the team settled down and fought their way to a very satisfying 1-2 record that could almost have been 2-1.
Sundays playoff game was a nail-biter, going down to the last play but unfortunately the MVP team lost by 2-points.

For the youngest teams in the program this was a solid start to their season. Within the space of 4 games the development of understanding was tangible, and the ‘next play’ mentality both teams displayed should create a solid platform for future tournaments.

The most excitement within the program was to see the highly talented 15u team face tougher competition to see exactly where they are at, as many of last years players have graduated to 18u. And they didn’t disappoint.
Saturday’s pool play saw numerous big plays on both sides of the ball that fed everyone’s energy, on their way to a 3-0 record.
Feeding off that on Sunday they then went on a run, winning their first two playoff games – each in nail-biting fashion with overtime – before narrowly dropping the semi-final to the eventual tournament winners.
An exciting and encouraging performance for the weekend, with still more development identified to keep the progress coming.

The interesting group to see would be the 18u, how would they respond after the many learnings from the Miami tournament.
Unfortunately they could never quite put it all together in the Saturday pool play. The big plays were there but never with enough consistency to finish with anything other than an 0-3 record.
A different team appeared for Sundays playoff game and a determined performance of complementary football lifted MVP to a 17-14 win.
However, a scoring error by the referee’s gave one of the MVP touchdown’s to the opposition and after heated debate the organisers decided MVP would not progress.

Despite how the weekend ended and the mixed bag of results this was a positive step forward for all teams in their development. Success, adversity, consistency, details, and much more all fed into the conversation and coaching pot to make everyone better.

MICHIGAN

The annual trip to a Legacy tournament in Michigan for 2025 include the 12u, 14u, and 15u teams for the Legacy Midwest Champions competition.

The 12u showed progress from their Triadelphia outing, especially on defence. After a tough opening 19-9 loss to the host Legacy Futures team they rebounded but just couldn’t find that extra winning edge in a tough 6-0 loss to TractionAP and heartbreaking 10-7 loss to NF Elite Hawks.
Ranked #12 out of 14 teams meant a tough Sunday match-up with the #5 Dig Deep Gold. The offence just couldn’t get going while the defence battled hard, but the MVP team fell to a 23-3 defeat and first round exit.

The 14u had hard work ahead with a tough pool, but they came out firing and overcame a good MaxEx Black team 16-12 in Game 1.
Game 2 was a war of attrition that showcased some amazing football and went down to the wire, with MVP losing UAS Blaze 9-6.
Feeding off that performance and disappointment, MVP exploded for a 37-0 victory in Game 3 against Michigan Elite, securing a #5 ranking out of 19 teams.
Sunday continued the high level, competitive performance, with a hard fought 10-6 win over PSM Thrive in the first round that secured a place in the final-8 and a rematch with MaxEx Black.
Mistakes ruled the game as MVP couldn’t avenge the Saturday loss, falling 24-12 to the eventual tournament winners.

Expectations were high around the 15u team after their success at Triadelphia, the coaches were very interested to see how this team would react.
In an extremely competitive age group MVP dropped Game 1, 21-13 to TractionAP Black, then fell to UAS Blaze 22-12. Starting to get back into their groove MVP won out in Game 3, 13-12 over The Boys.
Ranked #10 out of 12 teams was unexpected but a great lesson in football life for these young players, and meant a rematch with UAS Blaze on Sunday.
The Round-1 game was a tight, back-and-forth affair, with MVP grinding out the win 20-19 when it mattered, which set up a quarter-final against Legacy RISE.
The hosts had just too much in their tank and finally stretched out to a 23-12 win, forcing the MVP team out.

Another great learning experience for these young players, and the achievement of quarter-finals in two age groups shows the program progression.

DMV – Washington DC

Next up was a trip to another Battle tournament for the 18u, looking to measure up against top level competition again.

We always request tough pools in these tournaments to make the most of the development opportunity they provide.

Game 1 certainly shocked MVP out of their travel malaise, a sluggish performance leading to a 31-2 beating from 24K Flash.
This seemed to work though as Game 2 was a dog-fight against Level 82, with MVP grinding out the 19-17 win, and Game 3 started to show what these players can do with a 23-19 win over New York Athletics.
We were fortunate to be offered a 4th game due to a no-show team creating a scheduling issue, it wouldn’t count towards our ranking, which we gladly grabbed to get more reps and more development in this elite environment. Fighting numerous WR leg injuries which meant some two-way play was needed by defenders, MVP lost Game 4 24-13 to BeastMode VA, but gained valuable play reps and film.
The 2-1 record made us the #9 seed out of 18 teams, setting up an interesting playoff game with the #8 ranked Team Flex. Showing how evenly matched the teams were the game went to Team Flax, by a score of 14-13. A heartbreaking margin for a first-round exit, but again it was a scenario that brought lots of learnings for these players.

ORLANDO

Each season the 15u team finishes their travel schedule with a very tough tournament. This gives them a level-set on what it actually means to be a 3-star or above football player, and is a huge development tool for the MVP program.

This year MVP accepted an invite to the DR7 tournament in Orlando to face off against Florida speed. Again we requested tough pool play to maximise the players learning opportunity.

Team Tampa waited in Game 1 and MVP came out hard and fast, standing nose-to-nose with very good players but ultimately falling short in a 20-17 loss.
Game 2 was a live-stream that was also on the jumbotron at the end of the field. This was a massive deal for the MVP players and it showed in their execution against an incredibly impressive Prime8 team, who won out 35-9.
By Game 3 the humidity and competition level were starting to wear on the MVP players. A very fast and competitive Warcon 7v7-YIC team rolled past them 26-8 as MVP left too many plays on the field.
Ranked #18 out of 18 teams was not a good feeling, but the team took the positives from the good execution through the day that showed they could compete if they put it all together.
Round-1 of the playoffs was a face off with the #15 ranked 1 Stop Elite. MVP were determined to show they were better than their Saturday record and came out on top by a score of 15-4. This set up a rematch with Prime8 who ended up ranked #2.
Excited for another shot at such a good team, both offences came out hot, scoring on their first drives, and with the score at 7-7 MVP were in the redzone but turned the ball over on downs. From there the team from Tampa showed the difference in speed, quickness, and physicality, rolling out 34-7 winners.

Another weekend competing against unbelievable talent, it’s easy to be disappointed but with reflection on patches of execution and how the team has evolved from the previous year you can see how tournaments like this are setting players up for long term success.

WELLAND

Its finally time for Battle At The Border!  For the second time this season all four MVP teams would compete at the same event.

MVPs own tournament in the Niagara region brings the US level of competition North of the border, and puts Canadian bragging rights for the next year on offer to the highest achievers.

Early on a cold, damp Saturday the 12u kicked off the event playing the first game of the weekend against Atlantic Coast Elite (ACE), from Nova Scotia. Both teams struggled to master the weather and a defensive battle went to ACE 12-4.
Game 2 saw MVP take on Eastern Ontario Selects (EOS) from Brockville. MVP came to life on both sides of the ball and cruised to a 29-6 victory.
Game 3 brought a rematch with PA Elite, hosts of the Triadelphia tournament. This time the MVP team was a little wiser and more used to playing the bigger opponents but couldn’t stop the Americans from pulling out late to a 20-11 win.
Finishing 1-2 in pool play meant a #4 ranking and a rematch with PA Elite on Sunday in the playoffs.
In yet another hard fought game the PA defence proved too strong in a 16-7 win, forcing the host MVP team out in the first round.

The MVP 14u were up next, in another tough pool.
Game 1 slipped out of their grasp with too many mistakes in a 17-11 loss to PA Elite.
Against Drip Dawg, from Ottawa, in Game 2 the offence found their stride on the way to a convincing 24-10 win.
Saving the best for last, in an old-fashioned donnybrook of a contest, MVP just outlasted the ACE Spades team from Nova Scotia to win 17-15.

Going 2-1 meant a #3 ranking and set up a first-round rematch with the ACE Spades on Sunday. This time a very focused MVP team came out on top 19-3 with a solid all-round performance.
Waiting in the semi-final was the Niagara Nitro, who left no doubt of their abilities in a convincing 25-7 win, on their way to winning the Championship.

Coming off of their recent experience in Florida the 15u team were confident going into their pool play, and that showed as they traded blows with CTC from Rochester, New York, but fell short in a 28-25 loss.
Game 2 restored that confidence, an assured performance yielding a 30-7 win over ACE.
Last up was a new program from Toronto, Grinch Elite. Over-confidence crept in as MVP mistakes let the game slip to a 21-20 Grinch win.

The 1-2 record meant a #7 seed and a tough rematch against CTC.
MVP never really got going on either side of the ball, CTC rolling through to eventually win the title with a resounding 33-14 score.

The 18u bracket was loaded with teams looking to take down the hosts, who made the championship game last year, and Team Guts who won the title over them.
MVP got off to a mistake filled Game 1, ACE Clubs pointing out that everyone needs to be on their game to succeed with a 17-8 win.
Game 2 pitted MVP against Grinch Elite Green. With players on both sides knowing each other well it was a contentious affair which MVP left with a 26-16 victory.
MVP faced off against former players, now coaches, in Game 3, and those coaches proved they had learnt well as they led their VA 7v7 team to a 14-14 stalemate.

Ranked #6 MVP had left themselves plenty to do if they were to win through to the Championship game again, starting with a first-round rematch with Grinch Elite Green.
A less contentious game than the day before, the MVP team brought their focus and made sure to progress with a 23-10 win.
The quarter-final was never in doubt, as the Niagara Nitro rolled to a 26-6 win over a mistake laiden MVP, on their way to the Championship Game.

ROCHESTER

Supporting the CTC program from Rochester, MVP will take a team to their tournament as a season finale. As with 2024, the 12u team rolled into New York State, with a reduced roster of 10 players, for one last go.

Game 1 saw the MVP offence struggle but the team rode the defence to a 10-9 win over the Roc City Grim Reapers.
In Game 2 a more experienced Roc City Bears team again forced the MVP offence to struggle in a 19-18 loss.
The final pool game was against the hosts, CTC, who the weekend before had played in the Championship Game in the Battle at The Border. MVP held their nerve on defence and made several big plays on offence to come out with the 12-5 win against the much bigger team.
Due to a team pulling out MVP were offered, and accepted a 4th game, to fairly complete the schedule. We will never pass up the opportunity for live reps and learning. Against the Roc City Grim Reapers second team the offence continued it’s rise as their confidence grew and the defence pitched it’s third shutout of the day to win 29-0, making the days record to 3-1.

Sunday playoffs were straight into the semi-final and brought a rematch with Roc City Grim Reapers. In an incredibly hard-fought, defensive game MVP pulled out a late TD catch for the 15-9 win and trip to the Final, where they would again face the hosts, CTC.
The Final was a roller coaster of emotions as both teams took turns to score on offence and stop on defence, in front of a very invested home crowd and a very loud group of MVP parents. CTC pulled out the win in the last minute of the game, scraping past the scrappy MVP team 13-11.

It was a good end to the programs season, and so motivating to see how far this group of 12u ballers have come in the 8 months of practices and tournaments – providing a fitting overview of the progress in the whole program in the 24-25 season.