CRESTVIEW — Building relationships will be at the heart of the Crestview Bulldog Football Camp, which runs Sunday through Tuesday at Crestview High School.
And for good measure there will be plenty of football taught, too.
Crestview Coach Tim Hatten believes that program building starts by investing in the community.
“I’ve always thought that continuity in coaching has always built good programs,” he said. “If you plan on being somewhere you ought to have a vested interest in the young kids and being able to coach them all the way up.
“We are going to work on fundamental football. We are going to try and show them some skills at every position of football and make sure they know how to line up and have a little fun.”
Bulldog coaches and players will be the camp instructors to the camp open for players ages 5-13.
“You’ve got little kids that come out and watch you play,” Hatten said. “They want to be involved in the program in some way and be a part of it. It’s always been big to all of us.
“If you think to when you were younger — hanging around the older group of people, and the team, whether it’s baseball, football, soccer or whatever — you liked to be affiliated with the older kids with a little better skill level. I don’t think it’s any different here.”
Hatten said the camp offers an opportunity for CHS players to understand they are role models in the community.
“I think the older kids need to understand that thereare always younger eyes on them,” he said. “It really kind of modifies your behavior when you’ve got young people watching you. You need to lead by example.
“It’s just a nice checks and balances for our kids knowing the young kids look up to them like that.”
Randy Dickson is the Crestview News Bulletin’s sports editor. Email him at randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet him @BigRandle, or call 682-6524.
UPCOMING
WHAT: Crestview Bulldog Football Camp
WHEN: July 27-29
WHERE: Crestview High School
COST: $50, includes camp T-shirt
NOTES: Registration is 7 p.m. July 27 with camp from 7:30-9 p.m. Camp will go from 6-7:30 p.m. July 28-29
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview Bulldog Football Camp starts Sunday