Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

NFL Hall of Fame inductee Deion Sanders will bring his roster of youth football teams to Little Rock on July 21 for the Infiniti Youth Football Classic at Quigley-Cox Stadium on the Little Rock Central High School campus.

Sanders and his youth teams are slated to tour the historic Central High School and Museum when they arrive July 20. Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore will present Sanders with an award of recognition from the city that day in a short presentation at 6 p.m. at Central High.

The Infinity Youth Football Classic is organized by K.D. Williams, a Henderson State University football hall of famer, NAIA All-American and former NFL player. He's currently a defensive assistant coach with the Central Tigers.

Williams said a goal of the event is to bring more awareness about football to central Arkansas. "Our theme for this year's [event] is 'Faith, Football and Fatherhood," Williams said.

Sanders' teams are known as "The Truth," and they will compete against youth teams from throughout Arkansas. Five games will be played at Quigley-Cox Stadium beginning at 10 a.m. July 21.

The city of Little Rock, Creating Opportunities for the Youth, The Diamond in the Rough Organization and the Arkansas Alumni Classic Foundation are sponsors of the event and Sanders' appearance. Sanders starred in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons and Dallas Cowboys after an illustrious college career at Florida State.

Tickets for the five-game event are $5. Proceeds from the games will go to benefit the Central High football program, led by Coach Scooter Register. For more information, call Williams at 813-735-4733 or email him at kevinwilliams501@hotmail.com.

UEKMAN YOUTH EVENT DRAWS DOZEN: At last count from organizer Chris Monroe, the youth portion (5th through 8th grade) of the Garrett Uekman 7-on-7 Classic has lined up 12 teams that will compete Friday, July 13, at War Memorial Stadium.

"I think this is great response for a first-time event," said Monroe, who is hoping that 7-on-7 football will catch on among the middle school-aged athletes. Until this event, 7-on-7 was predominantly a high school summer activity. "The way basketball has AAU and baseball has travel teams, and golf and soccer and tennis are played all summer, I'd love to see 7-on-7 football catch on as a summer activity for boys younger than high school. It can only help improve their skills."

A third 7-on-7 skills and drills event for the age group is planned for Tuesday, July 10, at War Memorial Stadium, starting at 6 p.m. The cost per athlete is $5. Participants need only show up and are trained by local coaches and athletes.

The high school portion of the Uekman Classic, organized by former Uekman teammates at Catholic High and current Catholic head coach David Estes, along with current Central coach Scooter Register (who coached Uekman at Catholic) also has a dozen teams lined up to compete on Saturday, July 14, with the youth championship game scheduled during the Saturday lunch break for the high school teams.

All proceeds for the tournament will go to the Garrett Uekman Foundation, created to fund programs to study the type of heart disease that took Uekman's life last fall. Uekman was a backup tight end for Arkansas after a stellar prep career at Catholic High. For more information, visit the event website.

Email: jharris@abpg.com. Also follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris360