Local kids ranging from first grade to eighth grade converged on the Memorial Stadium turf this week to improve their football field skills. Head high school coach Tony Crough and his full staff of coaches were on hand to lead athletes through position specific drills. Athletes worked on fundamentals such as throwing, catching, passing and run blocking, firing off the ball, hip movement, proper stance and footwork as well as team blocking concepts, learning plays, and reading defenses.

“We want every athlete and coach on the field to enjoy themselves at camp,” coach Crough said. “We’re focused on developing strong fundamentals and team concepts but primarily this is the time for kids to fall in love with the game of football.”  

More than a dozen high school athletes were on hand wearing their game jerseys to help individual athletes and provide encouragement. “It was a lot of fun being around the high school players and playing ultimate football.” said seven year-old Daxton Minton. Ramses Lopez, high school tailback, helped the kids add a little flavor to their end-zone dances. Linebacker Sam Witte demonstrated what a linebackers face should look like when he’s staring down a quarterback.

“We had fun learning about the different positions, how to be a good linebacker, learning about different routes as a receiver and tackling,” said seven year-old Ian Premer.

“Defensively we were trying to work to get our hips even with the offensive linemen and accelerate through to turn the corner,” said defensive coordinator Kelly Brack.

“The offense was working on footwork by mirroring and punching. The kids did very well. This was the first time we did the drill. They are a very coachable group and do a good job of making adjustments,” he said.