It started with a simple notion of helping family, said Ultimate Edge founder Simi Strickland.

Initially the concept was just to help a handful of blood relatives, sons and nephews achieve all they could on the football field, in the classroom and in life.

Now, more than a decade later, Ultimate Edge has grown far beyond its simple origins, blossoming into an organization that has helped scores of local athletes move on to college football.

The organization hosts the annual Tanoa Bowl, a showcase of high school football talent from as far away as Alaska and Utah. This past weekend, Ultimate Edge presented the inaugural Northwest Premiere All-Stars Tournament, featuring the cream of the seventh and eighth grade football crop in Washington State, showing off their skills on the turf at Auburn’s Memorial Stadium.

After moving to Auburn from Orange County, Calif. in 1995, Strickland said, his sons, Justin and Jordan, decided they wanted to play football.

“My oldest wanted to play,” he said. “I told him it was hard and a huge commitment. It’s not easy.”

Familiar with the demands of the sport from his days playing high school football in Orange County, Strickland set about enrolling his boys in the Auburn junior football league but was told there were no openings on the rosters.

“So for five years I took my kids to the Kent Knights,” he said. “We lived right by where they practiced junior football in Auburn, and for five years we drove right by it on the way to the Kent Knights. But it was a great experience, there was some great people. But the greatest thing that happened was my sister up in Renton wanted to bring her kids down to play with my kids.”

Seeking to enhance the experience for his sons and his nephews, Strickland began Ultimate Edge.

“We just started working with our kids and it just started growing,” he said. “It went from our kids to 10 kids to 50 kids to where it’s at now. Ultimate Edge sports is just a unique football club we use to help the kids. Not just football, but academically. We just try to help out.”

The organization’s success was immediate.

Strickland’s nephews, Everrette and Jason Thompson, earned scholarships to play Division I football, Everrette as a defensive end for the University of Washington Huskies, and Jason as a quarterback for the University of Wyoming.

In addition, many local kids, including Auburn’s Chris Young (Arizona State), Cory English (University of Washington), Danny Shelton (University of Washington) and Alphonse Wade (Air Force), have taken advantage of the guidance of Ultimate Edge and moved on to play collegiate ball.

“We’re very proud to have so many good kids come through our program,” he said. “We found through our own kids that keeping them busy and keeping their minds occupied helped keep them focused on doing some positive and achieving their goals. They focused on school, getting to college. Some of the guys we work with are in a tough situation. Fortunately with us we have a great group of people. It’s basically a family.”

Now Ultimate Edge is expanded to offer opportunities to middle school football players, Strickland said. The organization’s Washington Warrior select football team competes in tournaments across the country and recently placed second in the nation at an eighth grade tournament in Florida.

“These are kids from all walks of life, all different types of kids,” Strickland said. “They’re just passionate about football and we want to show them how to use that to help them in the future and become positive role models in their community.”

Strickland added that by reaching down and helping younger kids, it lets them not only achieve on the field, but also in life.

“With a lot of these kids, by the time they get to high school, they’re already in trouble,” he said. “They’re already hurting with their grades. It’s a lot more than just the football, with success on the field we’ve got to have success in the class.”

Now, more than 10 years into his journey with Ultimate Edge, Strickland said he’s still amazed and humbled by the kids.

“I never thought it would get to where we’re at,” he said. “But as you progress, you just find more ways to help. It’s amazing, we’re very honored by these kids. We’re honored to help them on their path. We can help them, but they’ve got to want to do it.”