A young athlete participates in a ball security drill during the Panthers youth camp on Monday, July 25, 2022.
United South High School began their football youth camp for 1st-6th graders on Monday in what was a successful first day. At the time of writing the Panthers had 76 young athletes officially registered with more parents and children inquiring about the three day camp.
Following the South x BAYFL Wildcats Field Day two weeks ago, head coach Joe Coss had a good feeling about the numbers heading into this week's youth camp.
“Seeing those numbers that day we kind of had a base of what was going to happen during youth camp,” Coss said. “Looking at those numbers told us a little bit about what was going to be the outcome for this week's event.”
With a great outcome in numbers for the program, the campers will expect to see their day broken up into periods from 9 a.m. to noon each day on the United South main field. During these periods they will work on different skills and fundamentals with time sectioned off for both offense and defense.
Some of the drills include ball security and catching on the run during the offensive portion of the day and a tackling circuit and pursuit drill on the defensive side of things. Each of the days have been planned out by the coaching staff to ensure the athletes work on the essentials but also have a good time doing it.
Participation is very important for Coss and the program as he understands that for some of the young athletes it’s their first time participating in a camp like this.
“You could say for first graders, second graders, third graders, that you are pretty much the first group of coaches that are introducing them to something like this,” Coss said. “We have to do a great job at keeping them focused so they can say 'oh shoot, I want to do that again’ so it’s very important with that group because they're counting on you.”
In addition to keeping the younger first time athletes engaged and wanting to come back, participation in general is what Coss is looking forward to over the next few days of camp.
“I want to make sure that the numbers are high, whatever age group,” Coss said. “If I was to use one word that's what it is, it’s participation. I want kids out here participating.”
With participation having been affected since the COVID-19 pandemic the Panthers are trying to get their numbers back up and so far have been successful in doing so. This youth camp is a great sign that the program is getting their participation back on track which is beneficial for both the program itself and the community.
Not to mention the Panthers success on the field has surely helped in their efforts to get participation high again. The program has had four consecutive years in the playoffs and are coming off of a season having been undefeated District Champions, Bi-District Champions and Area Champions.
With a wide age range attending the youth camp this week, Coss feels that the program is building a foundation for future Panthers to see success once they get to gear up in high school.
“Success breeds success,” Coss said. “I want to say that with the success here at South the numbers tend to go higher because everyone wants to be a part of that. People want to know what it’s about and be a part of it and I guarantee a lot of these kids want to be part of that.”
The United South Panthers will certainly see more campers in days two and three of the youth camp as they hope to inspire young athletes in the community to take part in the program.
Following this week's youth camp the Panthers will begin their training camp for incoming freshmen on August 1st.