A local football camp practices safety as youth sports return to Mid-Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)
Two former University of Missouri football standouts said safety was a primary concern as they hosted more than 50 players at a youth football camp Thursday.
L'damian Washington and Jerrell Jackson said they wanted to give families an opportunity to get active after months inside because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Let's give the kids something to look forward to, something to get out and do, especially since kids didn’t really get the chance to go to camps this summer," Washington said.
The duo said that the Columbia/Boone County health department played a big role in helping to get the camp off the ground.
“I was communicating closely with my good friend (director) Stephanie (Browning) at the health department and she was always giving me tips on what to do," Jackson said.
The camp required participants and guests to get their temperatures taken at the entrance and socially distance when possible.
"We have three fields here and we keep the kids divided," Washington said. "We pretty much try to keep everyone separated. We have about 70 kids here at the camp, in total, and we try to keep them divided."
The camp had eight coaches, which Washington said allowed for more separation and smaller groups.
Washington said the most difficult part of hosting a camp like this was keeping the younger players socially distant.
"They want to just play and tackle each other and get on each other and wrestle, that's been the toughest part," he said. "It's like, how do you stop these kids from having fun?"
But participants said they weren't concerned coming into this type of environment.
"I play at Hickman and we already started practices there, so coming here I’m not too scared because I’ve already been starting practices," said Kaulin Mawson, a player at the camp.
Jackson said the duo will come up with more opportunities for local kids as COVID-19 lingers.
"We're going to be cooking up some good stuff," he said. "If COVID keeps preventing us from being able to be social, we may have to keep on tying some stuff together for the kids and, of course, do it in a safe way."
