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| Eighth grader Seth Clark runs through drills at football camp. |
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July 22, 2009
For those who visited the annual youth football camp at Covington High School the past few days and observed very closely, you likely learned something from the 70-plus youngsters who participated in the three-day camp.
If you paid close attention and really observed the kids as they went through drills over and over, what you likely learned was football is not work - it's fun!
In a day and age where many consider the preparation for Friday nights as work - and in some cases, too much work - the little guys who participated in the camp obviously disagree by the way they went about their business. There was no complaining or pouting when they were told to do something. All you saw was the intensity on their faces as they were willing to go as hard as they could in each and every drill - even the drills they've never tried before.
"These kids get it," said Buccaneer coach Dave Miller in regards to what it takes to go hard all of the time. "Right now, they don't know any other way - and that's good."
Perhaps it's because they haven't been exposed to failures that result in personal doubt, or maybe they haven't been led to believe one thing or another is too hard to accomplish by classmates or others close to them. Whatever it is that makes these youngsters willing to give everything they've got, it would be nice to bottle it up and preserve that passion for when they reach the junior high and high school level.
"There's a lot of talent here in every grade," Miller told the kids at the conclusion of camp. "Hopefully we can get all of you kids to come out here and be a part of the program when you are in high school. It's a lot of work, but like it says in our weight room, hard work is always rewarded."
The reward is being a Covington Buccaneer and being part of a team, which Miller let the high school kids and some former Buccaneers explain to the kids.
"It means everything," said 2009 graduate Cody Swabb, who started every game his senior season on the 2008 play-off team. "To walk out on that field on Friday nights under the lights and play on that field in front of a big crowd is awesome."
Logan Woloch, also a 2009 graduate, echoed Swabb's remarks. "Playing on Friday nights is what it's about," he said. "To be out there with your teammates after all the work in two-a-days and in the weight room makes it all worth while."
Junior Josh Boehringer stressed the importance of what it means to be a part of a team - a team that has worked so hard to reach a common goal.
"Covington football is about working your butt off with your buddies in the weight room and at practice and then going out and kicking butt on Friday night," Boehringer said. "It doesn't get any better than knowing our team worked harder than the team we are playing."
The hard work the players were referring to is the time in the weight room, the conditioning, film study and practices - all things the youngsters got a taste of at camp.
No, the kids didn't lift weights, but they did do push-ups, sit-ups and threw tackling dummies around - things that make them physically stronger. The kids also conditioned through the races they participated in throughout the three-day camp. And they also practiced - as in running drills and preparing for the seven-on-seven scrimmages that were held in the final day of camp.
And to the kids it wasn't work - It was fun!
