Nearly 50 area athletes are honing their skills as part of this week’s third through sixth-grade football camp at the Iola High School practice fields.
With many teams looking to improve upon solid seasons last year, Iola fifth and sixth-grade coach Brandon Westerman was excited for the turnout and hopes the skills they learned translate to success this fall.
“The kids really showed up this year. Not all of them will play this season, but they all showed up for camp,” Coach Westerman said. “That’s absolutely acceptable. We can get them ready for flag football too. The turnout has been great. This is the best turnout we’ve had yet.”
Wednesday marked the third day of camp. Monday, Westerman and the other participating youth football coaches began with agility and conditioning drills to get a baseline of the incoming campers. Tuesday, the campers focused on offensive drills suited to their skillsets. Wednesday, coaches focused on defense with an emphasis on physicality.
“We did tackling drills, linebacker drills and form tackling. Tomorrow, we’ll throw it all together,” Westerman said.
With the July heat setting in, Westerman said the camp is no simple matter. He strategically schedules water breaks in between education stations and coaches running the stations closely monitor campers for signs of dehydration and heat exhaustion.
“You have to make sure they’re drinking enough, but not too much,” Westerman said. “We give them about 5 minutes for each water break. It’s a struggle, because you want to get in as much as you can, but safety is also an issue.”
Whether campers play in full-contact, flag football or not play at all, Westerman hopes the Iola youth camp inspires a love of the game. Some campers’ only experience with competitive football is his camp and Westerman said he still sees their progress even if he doesn’t have a chance to coach them in the fall.
“They had success last year, and they’re going to keep having success if they keep coming back,” Westerman said. “It’s pretty cool to see them. Some will be really small, but the next year they get a little bigger, a little heavier. They develop over the years and it’s fun to see how their footwork and mechanics progress.”
