Annual Yellow Jacket/UC Patriot youth camp ‘definitely working’ for W’Burg football program

Former Corbin Redhound and current University of the Cumberlands Patriot Taylor Waddle helps out with the 13th Annual Yellow Jacket/UC Patriot youth football camp. 

Last Wednesday and Thursday young footballers ages 3-12 living in and around Williamsburg got a great education in the basics of the game when Yellow Jackets Head Coach Jerry Herron and UC Patriots Head Coach Matt Rhymer teamed up to present the 13^th Annual Youth Football Camp on the campus of Williamsburg High School.

There was a great turnout for this year’s camp, as kids received instruction from the Jacket and Patriot players and coaching staff.

“We want to teach them the fundamentals of the game, but the main thing is we want them to have fun,” said Rhymer. “We want them to first be excited about one day playing as Williamsburg Yellow Jackets. Then hopefully some of them will develop into college players, and they can continue to play close to home at the University.”

When speaking about the importance of camps like this one, Rhymer said, “You have to learn your ABC’s before you can learn to read, and those ABC’s will continue to come into play as you read throughout the rest of your life. The same can be said of the basic fundamentals of football that you learn in a kid’s camp. Those fundamentals will show up again and again all the way through to the NFL. Some things never change, and they will hear what those things are in a camp like this.”

Looking back on how the camp has progressed over the years, Herron said that he is pleased with the positive impact it has had on the Yellow Jacket football program.

“We started this camp to increase the level of participation in football here at Williamsburg,” said Herron. “We started out with about 10-15 kids, and we’ve slowly built it up to where now we have over 60 kids enrolling.”

“The thing that I like the most about it is you can look at a lot of the players that we have right now at the high school level, and many of those same guys also attended this camp when they were little. I think what we’re doing here is definitely working. We’re getting kids to come out, and they’re staying with us, continuing to play football until they’re able to make an impact as members of the high school team. I think this has really helped us.”

In addition to learning from local coaches and players, campers also got the unique opportunity to interact with a former pro in Jim Campbell, whose performance as a kicker for the Yellow Jackets years ago earned him the opportunity to compete at the college level as an EKU Colonel, and then he even spent some time in the NFL as a Minnesota Viking.

“I think that is what makes Williamsburg so special,” said Herron. “When you have guys like that who are willing to come back and donate time to the program, it’s a blessing to have that.”