Columnist trades in pen, pad to try hand at coaching kids at a
football camp; the results were a mixed bag.
Also with this story, a video of photo gallery.
Gilroy
Every coach I’ve asked has admitted that it’s far more stressful to be stuck on the sidelines watching the action than being a player. The lack of control over what can happen on the field is nerve-racking. In contrast, there’s generally not enough time to worry about anything when you’re playing the game.
Having played sports and attended camps throughout my younger days, I would have to agree. I was never as nervous attending any of those camps as a kid as I was Wednesday, when I volunteered to coach for a day at the 7th Annual Myles Brinson/JR Adams Football Camp held at Anchorpoint Christian School in Gilroy. Volunteered might be the wrong word, though, considering the leaders of the camp, K.C. Adams and Marlowe Brinson, weren’t about to let me get off the hook after offering me a position at last year’s event.
I had to be in. I was family now. I couldn’t say no.
My nerves quickly subsided when I got out of the car and walked over to pick up a coach’s uniform. Greeted by a handshake and a hug from Adams, I knew right away that my lack of coaching experience wasn’t about to make me feel like an outsider. I was given a pair of white shorts and a T-shirt, and told to get ready. Game time was in 45 minutes.
Sitting in the coaches’ lounge with a group of teenagers who were also coaching that day, Brinson made his entrance and a Cheshire-cat smile came across his face. It was a look that said, ‘I’m ecstatic you’re here. Now, let’s see what you got because we’re going to put you to work.’
The good news is I made it about 30 minutes before embarrassing myself.
While getting every one of the 160 kids in attendance, the highest turnout in the camp’s history, warmed up before starting drills to refine offensive skills, I was asked by Brinson to show the kids how to do a backpedal.
“Oh, I know how to backpedal,” I said.
Dumb move.
Focused on speed over form, which was the exact opposite of what I had been preaching to the kids but obviously wasn’t practicing, I came within steps of stumbling head over heels. (Heels over head, actually, but you get the idea.)
Taking a quick water break as kids were separated by age and ability – which also gave coaches a chance to coordinate who would be stuck with the new guy – I was paired up with former Gilroy High football coach and currently Anchorpoint’s 8-man football offensive coordinator, Tim Pierleoni. Along with two teenage coaches named Josh, we were all going to teach the kids how to run a fade route to the corner of the end zone. Simple enough. With groups of kids moving from one station to the next every 10 minutes, my only job was to loft the ball high enough for them to chase it down for a touchdown.
Let’s just say by the end of the first group, though, I looked less like a quarterback and more like my football column’s title, The Backup Punter. For every Monday morning quarterback out there, spend an afternoon trying to get your timing down with a group of 4-year-olds through tweens and you’ll find yourself in a humbling experience.
Pierleoni was forced to work double-duty, continuing to teach fundamentals to the kids while also encouraging me to stop throwing like I was running the option at Nebraska. As my timing got better, Brinson came over to let me know my passes were okay, but that I could leave the backpedal at home next time.
He then looked down and said, “Man, your legs are white.”
It takes a lot for someone to comment on how white your legs look when you’re wearing brand new white shorts and a white shirt. He then turned and laughed and gave me a hug, which wasn’t an uncommon sight throughout the afternoon. Coaches and players were more friendly with one another than any camp I remember attending. I asked Pierleoni what he thought of the event and his answer was unequivocal.
“This is the best camp I’ve ever been involved with,” he said, “because the focus isn’t so much on football but on character.”
Throughout the two hours, campers were drilled not only on technique but on fundamentals outside of football. How to be responsible for one’s self as well as others. If they see a friend or fellow camper in need, reach out. Adams and Brinson, who together run the camp after their sons Myles and JR both passed away at a young age, stressed that it was important for a community to help protect one another. Parents can’t be there at all times.
The names of both sons, as well as the word “family,” was the rallying cry when kids broke from huddles, making each cheer a way to remember. Each cheer was a way to bring people closer together.
As I was leaving, I got as many hugs as my grandma gives out around Christmas, which is saying something. I was a coach for a day and not one team, even mine, lost. If anything, I gained a new team.
