The hot weather wasn’t enough to hold back football lovers Monday.
Kids between the ages of 8 and 13 had a chance to work with the Bearcat players and coaches at the Future Bearcats camp at Centennial Field.
Everything from the fundamentals of tackling to ball handling was covered by Bainbridge coach Jeff Littleton and the rest of the coaching staff.
Littleton said seeing the kids come out and have a good time was what the camp was all about.
“That’s what we wanted to accomplish,” Littleton said. “We wanted to show them some fundamentals of offense and defense.”
The 16 campers were introduced to the coaches and players before having a stretch session followed by a combine. The kids ran the shuttle run, 40-yard dash, did the power toss and the broad jump in a similar style to the NFL Combine.
Afterward, kids were coached on ball tossing, ball handling and dummy tackling. Kids also got to work one on one drills and ball scooping.
Breaks were held for popsicles and lunch.
The Punt, Pass and Kick Competition saw the kids giving their best efforts for the most distance. Logan Rich, 9, won first place in his age group with a 54-yard punt, a 54-yard pass and a 55-yard kick. Sam Surratt, 9, was second with a 58-yard punt, a 53-yard pass and a 49-yard kick.
Drew Ryan, 11, came in first for his age group with a 76-yard-punt, a 60-yard pass and a 53-yard kick. Behind him was William McCorkle, 11, with a 59-yard punt, a 66-yard pass and a 56-yard kick.
Alex Pate was the top 13-year-old with an 89-yard punt, a 94-yard pass and a huge 100-yard kick. Tre’ ‘Mayne Smiley, 12, was second with a 81-yard punt, a long 103-yard pass and a 96-yard kick.
The camp was finished off with an hour of flag football.
“It was exciting,” McCorkle said. “The defensive tackling (was fun).”
Surratt said he like playing football at the end of the day. Rich liked tackling dummies.
See page 5B for photos from the camp.