Information gathered by John Robbins of Butte Sports
Former Montana Tech wide receiver Dion Williams Jr. has opened a training facility here in Butte America, the facility is called Inspire Academy. I had a chance to visit with Dion over the Holiday weekend, he is a busy fella and rightfully so, I asked what his main motivation of opening the academy was.
“I decided to open-up inspire Academy to elevate and create an environment where athletes can train at an elite level and master their skills in whatever sport they choose. My job is to increase the passion & productivity of the youth and everyone in the Community. I see kids in today’s age with little fundamentals, less work ethic and in some cases, they don’t have a positive outlet to interact in. I plan on being a beacon in the community for youth and people to gravitate towards and not feel as if they were alone.”
Inspire Academy offers training for ages as young as 7 all the way up to 17 years old, Dion will train 18 years and older adults as well who wish to seek and fulfill a healthy lifestyle.
Pricing ranges from personal training sessions starting @ $50, youth 7-17 years and 18 plus is $350/month. 12 and under is $40 per session or $300/month. Inspire also offers team sessions at $20 per athlete and daily classes for $20, drop in and $80/week per participant.
Inspire Academy is located at 601 Garden Ave, Butte, MT, United States, Montana. Dion sees big things for the Mining Cities youth athletes and hopes to grow his business to a national level.
“I believe training at this age is important because it allows the kids to gain necessary tools that they’ll need in life beyond sports! Allowing them to figure out what they want to do will just help them focus on something positive. It teaches them to be determined, detail oriented and having that drive that lasts a lifetime.”
Dion is also planning to launch a 7 on 7 football league which he says will be the first of its kind in Montana. The ages will be, 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, 16-17 & 18+ for the tournaments. There are 5 teams for each younger team and 10 teams for the 18 plus.
Rules are basic for 7 on 7, no rushing the QB, the QB can’t run (but can move laterally) The offense has 7 seconds to get the ball off or loss of down will occur.
Runner will be down by contact (no tackle) 2 first downs to get to the 10-yard line, 3 downs to get to the first two 1st down markers and once you make it to the 10-yard line you get 4 more downs to score.
All rules with penalties and interference are the same as regular football (no holding, pass interference, unnecessary roughness, no unsportsmanlike conduct) No holding/blocking, offense can just stand in the way of the defender.
Dion encourages teams to recruit and get girls on their teams because, if a girl score’s it’s plus 2 points more than what a touchdown would normally be.
Interceptions on defense are 2 points as well and each team must have a center to snap them the ball. Game times will be 45 minutes long with two 20-minute half’s and a 5-minute intermission.
A flyer will be posted in this story to be able to reach out and get more information.
Let’s give it up for Dion for wanting to keep our young talent pure and crisp as they develop over the coming years and make their way through the sports funnel in Butte.
