COYOTES HOST ‘SKILLS & DRILLS™’ YOUTH CAMP; MOURHESS NAMED MVP

(PALM SPRINGS) — Thirteen-year-old Samuel Mourhess — a 6’4”, 190-pound quarterback prospect — was named Most Valuable Player by his peers at the SoCal Coyotes Skills & Drills™ youth camp, hosted annually by the non-profit sports leadership organization. 

The annual Skills & Drills camp underscores the commitment of America’s #1 Developmental Football Program™’ to promote teamwork, leadership, and character development in young athletes throughout the Coachella Valley.Participants received elite football instruction to hone their young skills through drills, exercises, and competitive matchups.

SoCal interim head coach Zach Huff led a staff that included current Coyotes Justin Sykes and Johnathan Zazueta, and GM Scott Alvarez.

Second in the voting was 5’8″, 130-pound slotback Amari Cain, whose 4.4 speed and soft hands should make his upcoming high school future a bright one. He and Mourhess dazzled all week, with the quarterback dropping dimes down the seam from  50+yards, and Cain making catches look easy. 

An eighth-grader at Palm Desert Charter Middle School, Mourhess has a (non-weighted) 4.0 GPA. Born and raised in Indio to parents Scott and Anne Marie, ’Slingin’ Sammy’ has one brother (Jackson), and also enjoys basketball and sports-related video games.

Mourhess has spent his spring honing his craft, including a crash-course introduction from a host of Run ’n’ Shoot legends: Mouse Davis, godfather of the four-wide fire-breathing Run ’n’ Shoot offense; NCAA and NFL icon June Jones, currently offensive coordinator of the (XFL) Seattle Sea Dragons; and A.J. Smith, offensive coordinator of the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks, who also coached the ‘Air Raid’ under (late) Mike Leach. 

The Skills & Drills camp is a part of the Coyotes’ ongoing efforts to create positive change in the Palm Springs community through sports. Any desert school can request a camp, clinic or leadership symposia from ‘America’s #1 Developmental Football Program™’ by emailing [email protected].

“Sports transforms lives,” said SoCal General Manager Scott Alvarez. “When we provide young people with the tools they need to succeed — we’re also building a brighter future for everyone around them.” 

Nobody understands this more than Alvarez, who was hired by the Coyotes in 2015 to help in the team’s burgeoning film department. The Penn State graduate attacked every opportunity thrown his way, and swiftly worked his way through the ranks.

On December 15, 2020, the Coyotes named Alvarez, who was barely 30 years old, the youngest general manager in franchise history.

In addition to high-quality football instruction, the spring ‘Skills & Drills’ camp also hammered home valuable life skills. Through workshops and activities, participants learned the importance of teamwork, ‘Above the Line™’ leadership, and character development, both on and off the field.

For more information, call 844-5-COYOTE, or email [email protected].

ABOUT THE SOCAL COYOTES

In 2021, California State Senator Melissa Melendez selected the six-time champion SoCal Coyotes from 40,000 other District 28 Inland Empire and Coachella Valley organizations as ‘Nonprofit of the Year.’  Learn more about how the Coyote full-service nonprofit organization annually impacts thousands of lives across the region at TheSoCalCoyotes.com.

The SoCal Coyotes are the national standard of American developmental football, and are 106-16 under Hall of Fame head coach and non-profit founder J David Miller. The Coyotes’ organization provides elite athletes a professional environment that refines and showcases their skills through trademarked processes similar to the NBA’s D-league and MLB’s minor-league systems.

Additionally, the Coyotes’ 501c3 and award-winning ‘Above The Line™’ leadership programs impacts the social, mental and physical growth of more than 50,000 youth annually through remedial curriculum, training camps, clinics and symposia. 

In 2014, NFL executives have named the SoCal Coyotes organization America’s #1 Developmental Football Program™ for its national, scalable brands, community outreach programs, nine-year operational track record, verifiable data, youth curriculum, sales, public-private sector alliances, and measured results.