Football, community and life choices are the focus of the
5th Annual Myles Brinson/JR Adams Fundamentals of Football
Camp
Gilroy – When 8-year-old Myles Brinson lost his battle with leukemia in 2002, family and friends asked what they could give in his memory.
His mother, Sherida Brinson, said balloons – “Myles liked balloons.”
So for five years, that is how the Myles Brinson/JR Adams Fundamentals of Football Camp – held in remembrance of Myles Brinson and Adams, a former Valley Christian football player who was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Mexico in March of 2005 – has ended: With the release of balloons into the evening sky for.
At Anchorpoint Christian in Gilroy Friday, the week-long camp concluded in the same way. This year, a record 140 kids participated in the camp, led by coaches and fathers KC Adams and Marlowe Brinson.
“It’s not just about football,” said Marlowe Brinson. “This camp oversees everything.”
To accomplish that, each day of camp ended with an inspirational speaker. On Friday, JR Adams’ high school coach at Valley Christian, Mike Machado, spoke to the kids about the commitment JR showed in achieving goals. By the time JR Adams reached his senior year, Machado said his player had followed through on his own plan for success to the end, earning a scholarship to play Division I football at Idaho State.
“This kid no longer worried about what was happening today or in the next hour,” Machado said. “He worried about what was upcoming (in his life).”
Over the course of the week, camp-goers learned additional life lessons from several speakers, including boxer Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero and Myles Brinson’s older brother, Marlowe Jr., who was involved in a serious car accident four years ago, just weeks after his younger brother passed away.
“It’s very inspirational out here,” Marlowe Brinson Jr. said.
And like the football skills taught by over a dozen volunteer coaches during the course of the week, the words of wisdom also were absorbed by the young players.
One message in particular stood out to 8-year-old Dallas Wilson of Gilroy.
“Like your choice in life, it’s your choice to be good or to be whatever you want to be,” he said.
First-time camper Andrew Martinez, 10, of Morgan Hill, learned from his favorite camp guest, Gilroy hometown hero Guerrero to “follow your dreams.”
The football side of things wasn’t bad either.
“(I liked) the awards and drills we did and the coaches because they were being so nice,” Martinez said. “I learned how to be better.”
At the conclusion of camp, many campers earned awards for their hard work during the week. Whenever a camper came up to receive his or her award from the coaches, Marlowe Brinson would yell “Bad dude!” and get the reply of “You ain’t lyin’!” from the campers. When he yelled, “I see you…” they answered “Boy!” The phrases, used throughout camp, were the sayings the fathers used to use to encourage their sons – a tool Machado advised the campers’ parents to use often while mentoring their children in sports.
“That kind of reinforcement will keep kids focused more than anything else you can do,” he said.
The camp started off on a difficult note for KC Adams. The first day of camp, July 17, is JR’s birthday.
“That was tough,” he said. “After that, it was smooth sailing.”
By the last day, both fathers could be found smiling, happy with the course the camp had taken.
“It was an awesome camp,” Marlowe Brinson said. “An awesome camp.”
