{"id":235223,"date":"2024-07-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-25T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=235223"},"modified":"2024-07-25T17:10:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T17:10:45","slug":"fort-cavazos-youth-go-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=235223","title":{"rendered":"Fort Cavazos youth go pro"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Jaylen Simmons, 13, catches a football in the air for a touchdown during a scrimmage at the NFL football camp July 18, 2024, at Phantom Warrior Stadium field at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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\n George Gordon, 10, practices running around an opponent in a drill at the NFL football camp July 18, 2024, at Phantom Warrior Stadium field at Fort Cavazos, Texas. At the camp, youth were separated into groups by ages and ran through various drills of throwing, catching and evading opponents, followed by scrimmages.
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\n Daniel Wise, a defensive tackle for the United Football League team the Michigan Panthers, interacts with youth at the NFL football camp July 18, 2024, at Phantom Warrior Stadium field at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas \u2014 <\/strong>Footballs snapping, feet pounding, hands clamping around footballs and shouts and laughter are just a few of the sounds that filled the air as children covered the swath of Phantom Warrior Stadium field July 18-19, in a two-day NFL football camp.<\/p>\n

The Fort Cavazos Army and Air Force Exchange and Defense Commissary Agency worked with ProCamps, an event management and sports marketing company, to coordinate the camp, hosted by Proctor & Gamble Co. Fort Cavazos won the free camp after producing one of the highest sales of P&G products at the post\u2019s commissaries and exchanges. Youth centers on the installation, III Armored Corps, and Youth Sports and Fitness also assisted with the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of stuff is done behind the scenes,\u201d said Reatha Stockton, AAFES sales and merchandise manager, \u201cbut when you get out here to the stage you don\u2019t see any flaws. \u2026 It takes a lot of work but we try not to show it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With volunteer coaches, children were separated into groups by age and went through various drills of throwing, catching and evading blocks.<\/p>\n

Col. Lakicia Stokes, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander, observed some of the drills and imparted a few words to the children and parents at the camp.<\/p>\n

\u201c(The) youth football camp has been made possible by the generous partnership with our local exchange and DeCA partners here and the exchanges and commissaries are vital in creating a sense of community for our military families who often face the challenges of multiple deployments,\u201d she said. \u201cSo today\u2019s football camp exemplifies how these agencies, our partners, come together to offer additional benefits to our military families.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a two-day camp, which is aimed to teach our kids here the fundamentals of football and also instilling the values of hard work and dedication,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd also what\u2019s even more important is that it provides them with the opportunity to meet new friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

After running through drills, the children scrimmaged against one another in their groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so fun,\u201d said Leshawn Petite, 6, of the scrimmages, who was the \u201cfirst pick of the day,\u201d earning himself a T-shirt presented by Stokes.<\/p>\n

Mason Mann, 8, favored the interaction he had with his peers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most that I enjoyed was my teammates being positive, and they\u2019re working hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the first day, some children were recognized for their efforts throughout the camp.<\/p>\n

Amy Cantu, an Army spouse, said the football camp was a great opportunity for her son and other children to meet, play and have fun.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it when they get together and they\u2019re just learning different fundamentals, different techniques and to further see if, maybe, football is their thing and they can grow with it,\u201d Cantu said.<\/p>\n

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\n Daniel Wise, defensive tackle for the United Football League the Michigan Panthers, poses with campers and their parents for a photo at the NFL football camp July 18, 2024, at Phantom Warrior Stadium field at Fort Cavazos, Texas. The parents were recognized for winning a social media contest ProCamps, the company who coordinated the camp, put on during the event.
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\n Antonio Thompson, 8, practices his quarterback skills during the NFL football camp July 18, 2024, at Phantom Warrior Stadium field at Fort Cavazos, Texas.
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Craig James, camp director for ProCamps, said the camps are one of the best things the company does.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for the kids, and it\u2019s a way for them just to come out and interact with each other,\u201d he said. \u201cThey may not play football, but just being able to come out, be physical, be active, meet friends, just have fun. I mean, that\u2019s what we\u2019re all about at ProCamps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is kind of my summer job, but just being able to have kids understand that if they work hard, if they are the best version of themselves that they possible can be, there\u2019s no reason they can\u2019t be the next athlete or the next person that has a whole lot of success with whatever they do,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Along with the camp, attendees were also able to meet Daniel Wise, a defensive tackle for the United Football League team the Michigan Panthers and former player with the Washington Commanders.<\/p>\n

Being able to meet a professional athlete and get to hear about his experience and advice was a plus for Kendrick Loukoumanou, 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps me in the long run and helps younger kids play football,\u201d Kendrick said.<\/p>\n

Wise talked about the importance of having football camps for the youth, mentioning the qualities it can instill.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds you to get active, reminds you to get out there, stay healthy and, most importantly, teamwork, which is what the military is all about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wise is also a military brat. His mother is an Army veteran and even served at Fort Cavazos, then Fort Hood, during her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a military kid, it has its up and downs \u2014 mainly its ups, I say, because you get to travel,\u201d Wise explained to the children at the camp. \u201cYou get to see different places; you get to meet new friends. It taught me a lot about life, taught me about growth at a young age about just never getting complacent, never getting comfortable, just always being able to adjust on the fly. That\u2019s one thing being a military kid taught me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He left some words of advice for the youth from his own experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay encouraged and continue to have fun through life,\u201d he said. \u201cContinue to lean on the ones around you: your friends and family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: Eric Franklin, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs,\u00a0contributed to this article.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Jaylen Simmons, 13, catches a football in the air for a touchdown during a scrimmage at the NFL football camp July 18, 2024, at Phantom Warrior Stadium field at Fort Cavazos, Texas. (Photo Credit: Photo by Ayumi Davis, Fort Cavazos Public Affairs) VIEW ORIGINAL 2 \/ […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235225,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=235223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235231,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235223\/revisions\/235231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/235225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=235223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=235223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=235223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}