Allan Needham is a Sophomore at Penn High School who plays football. During his Freshman year he made the Freshman team for Penn.
“I didn’t really focus on football training, I just lifted a lot of weights,” Needham said.
He says he focused on lifting weights more his freshman year, in order to have more torque and put on more muscle for the football season. He says he knew that he needed to prioritize working on his torque for the football season, because he was competing with a lot of other people for his Left Guard position, which requires a lot of strength as you have to stop the people rushing the QB.
“I’ve been playing football since I was five after my dad introduced me to it,” Needham said.
Needham made the varsity football team as a starter his sophomore year. Football for him has always been a family affair. Needham’s father played football at Prairie View A&M University as a QB.
Now Needman is a 6 ‘5, 250 pound player who dominates his position so far at Penn. He is already talking with a few colleges about getting scholarship offers.
Needham is also involved in his community outside of football. He is part of Key Club and loves giving back to his community. He goes to homeless shelters and helps hand out food to the homeless.
“I’ve always loved helping other people, because I believe that what goes around comes around,” Needham said.
One of Needham’s closest friends, Connor Koroscil agrees.
“I’ve known AJ since 6th grade, so for 5 years. AJ has always been a bright outgoing person, he always prioritized others before himself, and AJ always was there for me whenever I needed the most. He was always there to help me with my personal struggles. I’ve grown up with AJ, and seeing him always helping out others, volunteering, persevering, achieving so much already in his sports career, is very inspiring. I truly don’t know what I would do without a friend like AJ,” Koroscil said.
Needham now looks to continue his football career and help propel the Kingsmen to a state run this tournament season.