The Kansas City Star
July 15, 1993
Edition: METROPOLITAN
Section: ZONE/EASTERN JACKSON COUNTY
Page: 10

Father and son finally get to be on same sideline The Albins, coach Harold and athlete Jay, on Missouri squad in Metro Dream Classic.
Author: HOWARD RICHMAN; Staff Writer

Finally, the Albins will be on the same sideline.

Coach Harold Albin and player Jay Albin - Harold's the father and Jay the son - will try and help the Missouri squad even the series in the second annual Metro Dream Classic High School All-Star Football game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas won the game last season 41-12. Harold Albin will be an assistant and Jay Albin will be one of the linebackers.

Harold Albin coaches at Raytown High School and Jay Albin played at Raytown South. He'll be a freshman this fall at Central Missouri State. Jay Albin really hasn't been with his father in a football setting since his elementary school years.

"I learned a lot about football when I was younger going to his practices," said Jay Albin, referring to Harold Albin's practices at Raytown High School. "I'd watch those old eight-millimeter films he had that you could run backward or forward. " Although Harold Albin didn't get a chance to coach his son, he saw several of Jay's games. He said he attended seven Raytown South games last season.

"Obviously, you'd like to coach your son, but me not being able to probably made it easier on him," Albin said. "He was a pretty solid player. It'll be kind of nice to be on the same team for this game. " Raytown South Coach Hank Spellman said Jay Albin already has acquired traits of his father.

"Jay's like having another coach on the field," Spellman said. "He didn't lead by yelling or screaming. He led by doing. " Albin recorded more than 100 tackles last season, and Spellman knows why.

"He has the ability to look at the development of a play, diagnose it and react," Spellman said. "He's been like that since his sophomore year. " After trying baseball and soccer, Jay Albin made football his No. 1 sport. The contact was just too much fun, he said.

"I like hitting people, hitting running backs," he said.

"They all think they're going to score. They're a little bit cocky. " A student of the game, Jay Albin said a player never can quit learning.

"I went to the Bill Maas Football Camp five years," he said.

"You have to work to get better. You always can get bigger, faster and stronger. " In his last high school game, Jay Albin said it'll be nice having his father near him, but he enjoyed the competition when it was Raytown vs. Raytown South.

"I don't know if I could've played for him in high school," Jay said. "I liked playing against him. It was interesting knowing he was on the other side of the field. "

Copyright 1993, 1996 The Kansas City Star Co.