For 18 years it was a familiar sight to see Cody Cameron run around the sidelines at Andy Hardin Stadium. Whether it was in his mother Michelle’s arms or running up to the referee as the designated ball boy, Cody Cameron was always around the Haybalers in the fall.
This year, that won’t be the case.
After spending two years on the varsity football team under head coach and father Chris Cameron, who is entering his 20th season as the Balers head football coach, Cody Cameron will not be on the sidelines in 2013. Instead, the younger Cameron will be at Northern Arizona University as a freshman.
It’s going to take some time getting used to it, the elder Cameron said.
“I think that will be the strangest thing,” Chris Cameron said. “My wife said she always thought it would be so great when Cody got into high school and started playing for me, but really it’s just like any other year. She thought it would be a great father-son thing but she said I didn’t even pay attention to him. But I got my job to do. He has somebody else paying attention to him.”
Still there will be a small void once the national anthem begins. Since Cody Cameron started coming to games, the father and son would stand next to each other, Cody Cameron said. It was the only time Cody Cameron was treated more than just another player – something they both made sure never happened.
“He treats me like every other player – nothing special,” Cody Cameron said. “Sometimes he gives me fatherly advice or gives me a hug before the game. He stands by me during the national anthem. Other than that he treats me like every other player.”
Each Saturday the father and son would also go over tape together, finding anything Cody Cameron could improve on. And after 18 years of going to San Benito High with his dad, going over film and heading to the weight room, those days on the football field together are over.
“I was a head coach here before he was born,” Chris Cameron said. “I was the head coach here before he was conceived. I remember gameplan meetings on Sunday Cody was a baby and he would come with me. He would take naps and sleep and I would have the bottle.”
He continued: “That evolved with Cody coming to practice still in diapers running around the field and jumping on the bags and other things we would use. That led into him being at all the games running around the sidelines. He would never miss the games.”
Luckily, though, the pair’s time together ended on the best note possible – a DI Central Coast Section championship. It was the third of Cameron’s coaching career for the Balers. It was the third time Cody Cameron was there to experience it.
In 2000, at the age of 5, the younger Cameron was on the bus that brought the team to San Jose City College. In 2005, he was the team’s ball boy.
In 2012, Cameron made perhaps the game’s two biggest plays, picking off a Milpitas pass for a touchdown and recovering a fumble for another score.
“I was there from the first day to the last day,” Cody Cameron said. “I remember having dreams of playing in a CCS championship game. It’s the Super Bowl here. It’s the biggest thing you can play in. To win one on my last game, with my dad as the head coach, it was great.”
For Chris Cameron it was great to see his team overcome so much – the team started 2-4 – and that his son had such a huge impact on the game. The only sour aspect from the victory, though, came as the younger Cameron left the game early with a head injury.
“It’s an awesome thing,” Chris Cameron said. “It’s not something they are going to forget about. Those were all great things. In the biggest game you want to play your best. We had a lot of guys that really played their best. If we were to play those guys 10 times, we would have won once. They played great when we had to. Those were all great things. Those were game changers and momentum shifters. That’s what got us through.”
Things, though, were easy for the pair during Cody Cameron’s time on the varsity squad, they explained. Chris Cameron made sure he never brought things from the football field home. He never wanted to single out his son to the team. Instead of a possible disaster together – which Chris Cameron was warned was a possibility – their time together at Andy Hardin Stadium was as good as it gets.
“It could be a disaster or the greatest thing,” Chris Cameron said. “For us it was a great thing. I think No. 1 is that if you have an over-bearing father that cranks and cranks on the kid on practice (it can be bad). I’ve seen it happen at the Little League field. And if it’s happening there, it’s happening at home. The kid ends up hating it. The guy has to be on him all the time or it’s one of those things where you single your son out all the time among the others. So other people start to despise him.”
He continued: “I think he always had his teammate’s respect. He worked hard. He was vocal. His play showed that he wasn’t slacking off. He never missed a workout. He never missed a practice. He had to do all the stuff the others had to do.”
For Cody Cameron, their love for football allowed them both to thrive without any problems.
“We both love the game,” Cody Cameron said. “I get the question all the time, like would your dad be okay if I didn’t play football. And he would absolutely be fine with that. He wouldn’t force me to play football. That’s the type of dad he is. He is a football coach and he is a dad but he doesn’t combine it. I have a love for the game and that’s me – not because of him.”
The only time Chris Cameron praised his son in front of his teammates came after some of the other coaches and teammates stuck up for the younger Cameron after the team initially announced the 2012 captains, Chris Cameron said. After Cody wasn’t elected to be a captain after the team’s opener against Pioneer, two coaches said the Cameron should be a captain. In front of his team, Chris Cameron said he was proud of his son’s play that day, which included a game-changing strip and fumble recovery for a touchdown. Afterward, Cody Cameron earned captain status.
“It was nice to hear someone else say something nice about him on the team,” Chris Cameron said. “I always tried not to but with something like that it felt really good. It was a proud moment for me. That was the first time I’ve said publicly I was really proud of him. I did that in front of the team. To me that was an important moment.”
Cody Cameron won’t be on the sidelines too often anymore for San Benito. After 18 years running around the grass at San Benito High, he won’t be too far away.
