Learning football basics

Coach Stuart Dean and his varsity staff conducted their sixth annual youth football camp at Eddie Dean Field July 28-30. Hosting around 50 campers, ranging in age from 6 through 13, the camp successfully drew community support to teach the young football hopefuls the fundamental skills of the game.

Third year veteran to the camp Isaiah Smith just couldn’t get enough of football. “It’s so much fun!” he said. “My favorite part is the wide receiver drill — it’s where you do patterns and they throw the ball to you.”

Other campers had different reasons for coming to the camp. Nine-year-old TJ Locher said, “I just wanted to learn about football; and I wanted to be better at tackle football this year.”

Not only did the sport keep youngsters like Isaiah and TJ coming back to the camp year after year, the atmosphere and staff played a role in the decision. “The coaches are just cool,” Isaiah said.

Other camp participants agreed that the staff, which included current and former players — as well as the Madison County High School varsity football coaches — helped make them have an enjoyable time.

“Andre [Parker] is my favorite because he’s the most fun,” said 6-year-old Jonathan Rogers.

Another favorite assistant coach was former Madison football player Tracy Dorris. “I played from ’79-’82 on the all-state team. We made it to the state championships and lost by 1 point,” said Dorris. Dorris played football with many of the campers’ parents, strengthening the bond between campers and staff.
“I played football with Lee Taylor, Lucky Graves, Timmy Taylor, etc. I played with a lot of their parents,” Dorris said as he looked out among the campers.
Current Madison County High School players also helped run the camp. “It’s my fourth year coaching here. I keep coming back because I like seeing the kids develop not only throughout the week, but from year to year,” said offensive linesman Brandon Utz.

Quarterback Will Taylor said, “We’re helping the future Madison County team out here.”

The coaches ran the campers hard, skillfully mixing water breaks into the carefully planned schedule.

“My favorite parts are the football games because it’s just fun playing them, or the running games where we run the 40-yard dash,” said 11-year-old Cole Smith.

Others were fans of the dummy drills. “My favorite thing is the dummies — the big blue things!” said 6-year-old Caleb Stoltz. “Yea! The dummies!” echoed Jonathan.

No matter the reason for attending the camp, children could be seen smiling and laughing as they learned the secrets to the game.

The key to this success? Assistant Coach Will Taylor may have summed it best when he said, “I just like helping the kids. That’s all.”