GHENT, WV (WVNS) — Attention all local high school football players! Elite Sports Camps is holding a player showcase in mid-February.

The Unsigned Seniors and Underclassman Showcase will be held at Independence High School on February 19th making this the second year the event will be hosted in West Virginia.

Coaches from colleges around the area, including Concord, Bluefield, and Bluefield State will be in attendance.

David Riley, a former West Virginia Mountaineers fullback and Glenn Deveaux, a former Pitt Running Back who also played for the Settle Seahawks, organized the event.

Riley said players from the Mountain State need as much help as possible to further their career.

“Because I’m from West Virginia, a lot of times we don’t get recruited as much as we would like. So this gives them a chance to perform in front of college coaches,” said Riley.

Deveaux said the past several years have been difficult for some players.

“Especially with the transfer portal, there are a lot of kids who were victims to COVID and how that kind of hampered their recruiting process,” said Deveaux. “Some guys, they didn’t get to play that year and this gives them an opportunity to come back out and perform in front of coaches.”

In previous years, the showcase was only open to seniors but, Riley and Deveaux said they saw players suffering from a lack of fundamental techniques due to missed practice time during the pandemic, so the showcase this year will open up to include underclassmen as well.

Players from West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, North Carolina, and other nearby states have signed up.

The showcase has a limit of 100 players, with 40 already registered.