Lancaster Gales Youth Football Camp continues to expand

LANCASTER – Youth football camps are all about learning the game's finer points and having fun.

The energy and enthusiasm Tuesday night, as well as all the smiling faces on the campers' faces, were undeniable during the first night of the Lancaster Gales Youth football Camp at Fulton field.

Led by Lancaster football coach Bryan Schoonover, his staff, and varsity football players, the campers – K-2, third-and-fourth graders, as well fifth-and-sixth graders – went through several stations of fundamental drills, but more than anything, it was apparent the campers were having a lot of fun getting coached by the varsity players.

The three-day camp is expected to have around 200 campers attending.

Schoonover couldn’t have been more pleased with how the camp went on the first night and said how important it is to help build the program from the ground up. The seventh and eighth-grade teams also held a camp on the practice field and were coached by the varsity coaches.

Now in his third season as the Gales’ head coach, Schoonover said having the camps are starting to pay dividends.

“Right now, we are seeing the numbers increase at our junior high levels, so we starting to see more kids come out and play football at our middle schools and that’s when we start to spill over to our ninth graders,” Schoonover said. “It has helped with our numbers and really helped with a lot of our younger coaches, too, because they do clinics with us and it just helps to have everyone on the same page.

“They know what we are doing and how we do things and what we expect. Across the board from top to bottom, you can see improvement with what we are trying to do and what we are trying to build here.”

The camp started with the campers going through the locker room and getting their picture taken with some of the varsity players. The campers were able to put varsity jerseys and helmets on and pose in front of a varsity player’s locker.

The campers then proceeded from the locker room through the weight room where they were greeted by varsity players on each side clapping for them as they walked by. From there, they proceeded to the football field.

Former Amanda-Clearcreek head coach Steve Daulton and now assistant coach with the Gales said he was thrilled to be involved with his first Lancaster youth camp.

“I love it,” said Daulton, who was working with the middle school players. “It’s an opportunity for the middle school coaches to see how the varsity coaches run their individual drills and how we install and communicate as far as formations and adjustments, and then for the biddy kids, it’s a blast. Our varsity guys are having fun running drills and building a lot of camaraderie. It is a lot of fun. It’s always a week I enjoy.”

Schoonover said the varsity players enjoy the camp because it gives them a chance to coach the younger players and give back because they were once in their shoes.

“I think it is fun for our players,” Schoonover said. “They all played peewee football, so they remember coming out and wanting to be under the lights at Fulton Field and wear gold helmets, so is it is kind of cool to watch our guys come out here and coach.

“They were all excited. They love doing it, they have fun and they like being around each other, so it helps them, too, having a coaching position that they play, and I think it helps when they get to practice. It’s just beneficial for everyone involved.”

As the campers dispersed, there were a lot of smiling faces.

Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Lancaster Gales Youth Football Camp continues to build a solid foundation