Warner University A Hidden Football Gem

Lake Wales – Five high schools found out something on Friday that many have no clue about. Nestled to the south of Lake Wales in Polk County off U.S. 27 sits Warner University. While it's tough to see or tell anything about this NAIA program from the road, that is about to change – especially on the football field. While this member of the Florida Sun Conference has been around for decades, football is relatively new – and it took the hiring of Dialleo Burks and an impressive staff to truly get the ball rolling, and it really is starting to gain serious momentum. A native of LaGrange, Georgia, Burks brought with him two decades of high school, college and NFL experience – and on Friday, the school made history, hosting five schools for a 7-on-7 event. The first ever on-campus event like this. With Orlando Lake Nona, St. Cloud, Winter Garden Horizon, Winter Haven Ambassador's Christian and Plant City Durant all heading to this campus, a new chapter was written for a school that opened its doors in 1968, and has long been home to so many other sport. Just over 10 minutes away from Webber International University in Babson Park, Warner was never a factor on the football field, but with a new multipurpose athletic field right off U.S. 27, new practice fields and an upgraded weight room and locker facility, this is now a program that many will really start taking a look at. The teams that took part in the inaugural on-campus 7-on-7 event were blown away by what is coming over the next few years, and while many local schools have not shown interest, they will soon. Having five programs not from the immediate area on campus was a signal that if you build it, they will indeed come – as the competition was fierce and all five schools got in plenty of work in. What needs to happen – especially with local programs like Lake Wales, Haines City, Davenport, Ridge Community, Lake Region, Frostpoof, Bartow, Fort Meade, Discovery and all the Polk County schools – less than a half hour away – is they need to support this program like do Southeastern University and Webber International. Schools in Highland County such as Avon Park, Sebring and Lake Placid are all under an hour away and ALL those schools have way more prospects who will play at the NAIA level than the NCAA level! New NAIA programs such as Keiser University (West Palm Beach), and Miami-Dade County's Florida Memorial University and St. Thomas University have received huge support from their local high schools, and Warner should be shown the same courtesy by programs in their area. What happened on Friday was this school rolled out the welcome mat and charged basically nothing for an event at other venues would cost over $1,000. By the end of the day, five teams took advantage of an opportunity for college coaches to watch and evaluate them, and that was certainly something that was a win/win all the way around! You Can Contact Larry Blustein with prospect or team information at: Floridakids1@aol.com.