A9
WEDNESDAY
August 21, 2019
A football camp participant avoids two Tackle Wheels as he sprints forward with the ball. Kids from third grade on up learned football fundamentals at the four-day football
camp in Wallowa.
WALLOWA’S KIDS FOOTBALL CAMP TEACHES FOOTBALL BASICS — AND MUCH, MUCH MORE
COUGAR CAMP
By Ellen Morris Bishop
Wallowa County Chieftain
T
he end of sum-
mer means the
beginning of
football. But
sandwiched in
between, as a sort of joy-
ful interlude, there’s Cou-
gar Camp. It’s four days
of learning that there’s fun
in football fundamentals
for kids from third grade
through high school. The
cost, $30 for one child and
siblings at half price, is
minimal. The proceeds go
into the Wallowa Football
account and help defray the
costs of running a quality
football program.
Wallowa High School
football coach Matt Brock-
amp’s enthusiastic style
of coaching is inspiring to
kids of any age. Brockamp,
a land surveyor in his life
beyond football, has turned
the Wallowa High School
team around, steering them
back towards their once
and future dominance. He
volunteers his time for the
camp, and for coaching the
high school team.
The four-day football
Cougar Camp, which Brock-
amp started fi ve years ago,
provides aspiring young
players with a taste of the
skills, strategies, and fun
of football, with few of the
grievous risks now appar-
ent in the game. There’s no
tackling, except for tackling
oversized orange and black
foam donuts called Tackle
Wheels. Nothing actually
involves grabbing another
player. Campers learn the
correct approach for a left
tackle or a right tackle—
with a light touch serving
as the only allowed contact.
There are no helmets and
no pads here, and no need
for them. High school play-
ers dispense advice, help
demonstrate techniques, and
toss Tackle Wheels into the
paths of young ball carriers,
challenging their agility. By
helping with the camp, the
high school players begin
to get their minds back into
football mode after a sum-
mer of other things.
Photos by Ellen Morris Bishop
Coach Brockamp (center) leads football camp participants in a cheer to end the four-day football learning experience.
TACKLE PRACTICE Two youngsters go through a “left tackle
drill”, where there’s no actual tackling, there’s just learning
how to get into the correct position for a successful tackle.
Tackling the tackle wheel seemed to rank among the most fun
thing to do at the four day Wallowa football camp.
For Brockamp, Cougar
Camp is a way to engage
the community. It also helps
develop a team bond that
transcends grade levels, so
that a third-grader will envi-
sion himself as a Cougar
player right from the get go.
The coach is encouraging
and demanding all at once.
He teaches hustle. He elicits
there Michael! Get there,
Michael! Good job, good
job! Here we go! Here we
go! Close the distance!
Close the distance! Near
foot swoop! Left tag for a
left shoulder tackle!! Be a
great tackler today! Good
gather, good tag! Good job!!
Nice job!
On the last day of the
each player’s best effort. His
enthusiasm is utterly con-
tagious. As each youngster
races after a fellow player
with the ball to “tackle” him
with a light touch, Brock-
amp’s voice booms across
the fi eld.
“Go go, go! Get down
there! Eyes right there! Eyes
right there! It’s a HIT! Get
camp, there’s a review of
what everyone learned.
“Fundamentals.
We’ve
learned lots of them.” Brock-
amp boomed to his 20 or so
campers. “We’ve talked about
defense and special teams. It’s
been a good four days. You
guys did a good job.”
“What does it mean to be
a Cougar?” he asks. “What
does that C stand for?”
“Courage!” comes twenty
young voices in unison.
“And
championship
character,” Brockamp adds.
“Doing what you say you
are going to do. And being
ready to compete.”
“The R is important,” he
says. “We are talking about
respect. That means respect-
ing the game and the char-
acter of the game. Part of
that is having respect for the
rules of the game, respect for
the offi cials, having respect
for your opponents and
helping them up, and having
respect for your teammates.
That means doing your best
for them, being dependable,
letting them know you’re
there for them.”
For
good
measure,
Brockamp added an S,
the fi nal letter in Cougars.
“That’s for service,” he tells
them. “Serving your team-
mates, your community.
Next Saturday at the end of
our fi rst week of practice in
helmets and full pads, the
team is going to go through
the town and pull weeds out
of fl owerbeds, pick up trash,
and help move one of our
retired teachers in to a new
home. And S is for sacrifi ce.
Sacrifi cing time with your
family or playing X-Box
so you can be here learning
and being here and getting
better. And,” he continued,
“out of service comes lead-
ership, and it starts by set-
ting an example, and it starts
with your work ethic. And
working as hard or harder
than anybody. That’s how
you lead. You lead from the
front. “
It’s 7:30 p.m., and the sun
is setting on the 2019 Cougar
Camp. There’s no better way
to top off four days of foot-
ball than an ice cream cone.
The entire band of Cougars
lopes toward the Little Bear
Drive In, a staunch sup-
porter of Wallowa football.
Brockamp shepherds his
charges across the highway
and then organizes them into
lines. This time, it’s not for
ball carriers vs. tacklers. It’s
for vanilla and chocolate.
What better way to start the
new school year?
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