Youngsters learn ropes at No Nonsense Football Camp.
At 6 p.m. sharp the whistle blew and about 80 kids ages 5-13 – most under 4-foot-5 – scurried to the center of the field.
“We worked you hard on Monday and we are going to work you even harder today,” Gilroy High School football head coach Greg Garcia announced to the eager group.
“Can you handle that?”
It was the type of pep talk expected at something called the No Nonsense Football Camp before the evening’s drills commenced.
“It’s the attitude and the approach when you get here,” Garcia said of the camp’s moniker. “You are here because you want to make yourself get better and the way of going about it.”
For the next 30 minutes, the campers were running. Taking tight turns around trash cans, cones and giant hula-hoop-like apparatus, with improving agility and footwork the main objectives, the kids huffed and puffed through six stations.
Though it has no direct affiliation with the GHS football team, the camp is run by GHS varsity players and overseen by its coaching staff. And in its first year of existence, the No Nonsense Football Camp, – a two-session camp held at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex – has already made an impact.
“The parents are enjoying it and the Pop Warner coaches that are observing say that this is one of the best things they have ever seen at a camp,” Garcia said. “The turnaround for what we are providing I think is something that was needed in our community.”
With the idea of instructing young Gilroy Browns Pop Warner players a main reason behind instituting the camp, the kids are exposed to every aspect of the game.
“Talking with the Pop Warner coaches, we needed to give something to the community,” Garcia said. “And we thought, since most of our kids are Pop Warner guys anyway, it would be good for them to mentor the younger kids.”
About 20 varsity Mustangs were designated as group leaders (two to three per group), distinguished by the names of pro football teams, and ran their group around to each station, working on everything from agility to proper offensive and defensive techniques.
“These guys are pretty fun,” GHS strong safety Felix Gonzalez said. “I like helping the community. It’s setting an example for these kids to grow up and help someone.”
The varsity mentors barked out encouragement, laughed, and engaged the youth as they rotated through each station. When one camper’s cleats broke, one varsity player offered up his so he could continue.
“The students are learning how to give back to the community and volunteer,” Garcia said.
The camp, which wraps up today, ran Monday, Wednesday and Friday last week as well as this past week.
While Monday’s campers went through offense-oriented drills, Wednesday’s were defensive-minded and Friday’s covered special teams.
“With all the positive things people are saying, I hope it’s bigger next year,” Garcia said.
