Players and Coaches lead youth camps

THOMASVILLE — Elementary and middle school students are participating in Brookwood School’s annual football camp this week, with varsity players and some newly hired coaches getting in on the action. “In 2003 we started this youth camp,” Brookwood football head coach Shane Boggs said. “Right now we have kindergarten through sixth graders and around 40 campers this year. It’s grown through the years. Most of them are Brookwood kids but not all of them — It’s open to the community.” The camp teaches fundamentals through drills and games, also aiming to teach safe techniques that minimize the risk of injury. “We play this game to have fun so we want to focus on that,” Boggs said. “The first goal for me in terms of football fundamentals is making it a safe game. You talk about tackling technique, head placement, all that kind of stuff. Every player here will also play every position at some point.” Some of Brookwood’s football players were also in attendance helping the kids along. “Depending on the day we might have five or six of those guys out here,” Boggs said. “You may see 15 or 20 of them. We don’t require it but we do get good turnout. Most of our coaching staff ends up working it as well.” That coaching staff has undergone some changes with some new additions recently. New defensive coordinator Jeff Stanley, who came over from Bayside Academy in Daphne, Ala., and new slot receivers coach Rodger Walker were also on the practice field conducting the camp. Walker has some previous ties to Brookwood, where he played football on the Warriors’ state championship team from a decade ago. He played college ball at Appalachian State. “He was on our undefeated team in 2007,” Boggs said. “It was unbelievable. He was always an amazing athlete. He was a good hire for us.”