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| The parents who traveled with the Coyote football team - including the "Madera Mommies" - to the three-day football camp in Tehachapi. |
| Photo by: For The Madera Tribune |
Unless you are the Madera Coyote football team.
Head coach Randy Blankenship gathered up his players and took them to a location which borders the Mojave Desert and has an elevation of 4,000 feet.
So much for relaxation.
Madera participated in the 17th Annual Wing-T Football Camp held in Tehachapi along with five other teams in an intensive three-day event which brought together among the best Wing-T coaches in the country.
Camp Director Steve Verbit, as assistant football coach at Princeton University assembled a staff second to none which also included Stanford University quarterbacks coach Bill Cubit who guided Shane Matthews of the University of Florida - and currently of the Washington Redskins - through a 1991 season in which he placed fifth in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Aside from host Tehachapi High and Madera, Roosevelt High and Narbonne High of the L.A. City Section were at the camp along with Granite Hills and East Bakersfield providing top notch competition and teams with a wealth of experience running this multi-faceted offense.
Despite the fact that this camp was offensive oriented, Blankenship took his defensive players as well in order to give them exposure to these teams.
"There are other camps {Wing-T] around we could have gone to," said Blankenship. "But there were some big strong teams like Narbonne at Tehachapi who like to play 11-on-11 Thud."
Loosely translated, "11-on-11 Thud" means that although the camp is essentially non-contact, the pads and helmets would be put on and some hitting was going to happen.
"Narbonne had athletes like Edison except bigger," said Blankenship. "But our kids put it to them and we were definitely the best team at the camp."
And the toughest as the Coyotes proved on Saturday.
"They [the Camp Directors] had to stop out scrimmage on Saturday because they felt we were getting too rough," said Blankenship. "We just took a slap on the hands and went back to business."
The Coyotes practiced three times a day in drills focusing on fundamentals as well as scrimmaging against the other teams.
In the sweltering heat and high elevation of Tehachapi, this made for a brutal physical experience as Madera practiced seven hours on the very first day of camp.
Madera won the "perfect play" competition awarded for the best execution while lineman Tim Nichols and Cameron Henderson each were chosen as "Camper of the Day".
"We really came together as a team during the camp and each player showed improvement," said Blankenship. "Brent [Massetti] was the best tight end, Beau [Blankenship] was outstanding at split end and Nick [Bates] was clearly the best quarterback at the camp."
Other players that Blankenship felt really distinguished themselves were Tony Queen, Kyle Caballero and Joseph Rios.
"On Saturday when we were scrimmaging, Tony [Queen] was the best player on the field," said Blankenship of the junior outside linebacker. "He was a one-man wrecking crew."
While the camp gave the team the chance to work with other coaches and some outstanding teams, Blankenship was most proud of how the team came together during the three days as he made sure that the team-building aspect was a priority and that the players had a fun experience.
The players, coaches and a contingent of parents all slept together in the wrestling room which really provided a sense of unity.
"The players started out in groups but it didn't take long before they really came together as a team," said Blankenship. "And I've never had a parent group who had so much fun and was so supportive and giving of their time and effort."
Local merchants Save-Mart and Pak-N-Save donated most of the food for the camp while the "Madera Mommas" - a nickname they deservedly earned - did all the cooking while also finding time to enjoy the town itself.
At night, the players participated in watermelon spitting contests and skits in which they portrayed the Madera coaching staff and as assistant coach Sean Kelly had predicted, "The Turk" paid a visit to the Coyote team.
"Chris Griffin was the premier spitter of the camp," said Blankenship. "And there were some very good imitations of the coaches although mine was way off base."
Nick Bates got the honor to portray his head coach and Blankenship thought that Bates' imitation clearly exhibited a physical stature that accentuated his abdominals as not being exactly a "six-pack."
The Madera Coyotes accomplished a lot of their camping trip to the desert and returned to Madera very tired but also having experienced a fun and rewarding camp.
"We still have to work on our execution but the kids worked very hard and really demonstrated the concept of being a team," said Blankenship. "We got better, became closer and gained a lot of confidence - all three wins in my book."
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Paul Stanford Paul Stanford is the sports editor for the Madera Tribune. You can contact Paul at 674.8134 ext. 225 or e-mail at pstanford (at) maderatribune.net The Madera Tribune online subscriptionTo subscribe or log on, CLICK HERE. For more information first, CLICK HERE. |
