(Tim Tawa and the Nation’s #1 ranked senior QB Max Browne of Skyline HS committed to USC ) |
As the largest football academy in the Pacific Northwest we take a lot of pride in doing things the right way. Taylor Barton is a perfectionist and demands that his quarterbacks strive to be the best, as he knows no other way to train. We could go on and on about all the D1 and NFL QB’s to come through the academy (Aaron Rodgers, Jake Locker, Kellen Clemens, Eric Ainge, Kellen Moore) and the list continues.
The reason this is relevant is because we are now seeing ALL the top QB’s within the region show up to camp from a very young age. The top six kids on our recruiting board (NEI) for the class of 2013 in the State of Washington all have D1 offers and they have all trained at the academy.
Max Browne has been working out with Barton since he was just a kid, and is currently ranked the #1 QB in the country and headed to USC. Barton traveled with Browne to SC before he committed as their friendship remains close. All of this is important because Barton can tell you who has the "it" factor from a very young age, or better yet as TB states " ice in their veins".
Ross Bowers of Bothell HS in Washington has that "it" factor. Our freaky 8th grader to be Connor Neville of Beaverton is going to be one of the top QB’s in the country for his class.
We talk about these examples as we see a kid named Tim Tawa of West Linn do things that make us say "wow". He recently returned from the Elite 11 in Redondo Beach where he got to see the best of the best.
Tawa is going into his 8th grade season, and is one of those kids that has never really lost much. He threw 23 Tds and 1 Int in 2011 to statistically put his skills into perspective. We are sensitive about hyping young athletes to much for a host of reasons, but Tawa will be a special talent. He’s an outstanding baseball player that is also a school chess champ with an A/A+ average.
Tim showed up at a workout the other day with a swagger that you either have or you don’t. There are certain things that can’t be taught and thriving under pressure is one of them. The kid isn’t cocky just confident in his abilities, and at the same time very well spoken.
The young Tawa still has a lot of time left to work with Barton and grow as a student athlete. If you ask any of the athletes mentioned above they will say that TB made sure they took there training very seriously, but at the same time ALWAYS had fun.
Being a ball boy at the Elite 11 is something very unique, and a memory that will forever last. Tim says, "the thing I liked most about the Elite 11 was the chalk talks, Trent Dilfer spoke about pressure and how you handle and act on it". Tawa continued, "The thing that was most new to me were the cameras and how they were everywhere, no matter where I looked there was a reporter or a camera filming or taking notes…None of this made me feel pressured, I just enjoyed myself".
Its exciting for everyone as the northwest continues to produce more and more top tier talent nationwide. We are looking forward to watching Tim grow and having a successful HS career, and wish him continued success.
