Since starting in the early 2000s, Head Start Football Camp has been an important part of helping give seventh, eighth and ninth graders a jump start before football season begins.

“[Middle School] can’t start football until the first day of school,” said Clayton Maple, Kingwood Park football coach and athletic director. “So we really want to include those guys because you’re coming into middle school football, you know? You’re kind of nervous. It allows you to meet your coaches. We have a lot of kids, you know, kind of coming together that haven’t seen each other for a while, just it gets everybody acclimated.”

This past summer, 91 total athletes attended the camp. They competed in drills to get them ready for the upcoming season.

Freshman running back Jonus Washington said it gave the newcomers a boost before high school practices began.

“We actually had gone through a lot of training and we actually knew our place,” Washington said. 

Maple made sure the camp offered opportunities for the freshman to get ready for high school, in addition to just being focused on the workouts.

“We let them come into the building, see the locker room, see the weight room,” Maple said.

The middle schoolers also gained confidence during the camp. 

The camp helped “develop my skill,” eighth grader Carson Kazeem said. “I felt like after those four days of camp, I got better way better as a player.” 

Seventh grader Randy Rivera said the camp helped him going into his first year of football.

“They helped me get used to some of the plays, so I could demonstrate over there at KMS how the plays work,” Rivera said.  

The camp also let the players start bonding with their old and new teammates. Team chemistry is an important part of the game. Kazeem said he and his teammates got excited for what’s ahead.

“[We] kind of got fired up and we’re confident and we’re better prepared for this upcoming season,” Kazeem said.