Bridgeport High School football Coach Josh Nicewarner was like a whole lot of kids during his early school years. He loved Indians football and looked up to the players on the teams.

 

“Tommy Brown was our next door neighbor and he was one of the guys I just thought was incredible on the football field. There was Tommy, Brian Zickefoose, Johnny Stutler, heck, a whole bunch of them that you just wanted to get to know, acknowledge you and maybe one day be like,” said Nicewarner.

 

Whether today’s youth become the next Josh Nicewarner, Tommy Brown or Brian Zickefoose on the football field remains to be seen. But for those wanting a chance to get to know some of today’s players and most certainly be acknowledged by them, there’s something coming up next month that should fit the bill.

 

On June 24, Wayne Jamison Field will be the site of the Bridgeport Indians 2017 Football Camp under the direction of Nicewarner. The Saturday camp will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with registration beginning at 9:30 a.m. The cost of the camp, which is for youth ages 5 through 14, is $40 and includes lunch.

 

“Anytime you get kids that want to be there and play football it is a good thing. What I really enjoyed last year was that the camp showed me that there are plenty of youth out there that want to be a future part of Bridgeport football,” said Nicewarner. “We hope this camp enhances that.”

 

In the first year of the camp in 2016, Travis Jones said there were roughly 65 participants. He hopes that number grows this year.

 

“Certainly, the more we have the better and we hope to have a solid turnout,” said Jones, who is involved with the camp in his role as head of the Friends of Indians Football that is sponsoring the event. “Part of this is to create funds for the program, but the real goal is to get these youngsters around the program and to do so in an afternoon of fun.”

 

Last year’s camp was just that, said Nicewarner. He said the kids that attended enjoyed working with former BHS players, as well as current ones. That will be the same setup this year and Nicewarner said drills will once again be aimed at having everyone work in an area they’re comfortable with.

 

“We’ll have various stations for the kids in the positions they play, but we also try to  make the experience a bit different for them by having  the linemen doing some drills that we would have running backs doing and vice versa,” said Nicewarner. “Quite frankly if the kids don’t say they had a good time at the end of the day then we’re not doing our jobs. I can assure you we’ll do everything we can to make sure they do have a good time.”

 

The time is different this year. Last year the camp was in late July. This year it’s in late June.

 

“We’ll have our current players here for summer practice and we want these young kids to get to know the players without their helmets on. Honestly, I think it does just as much or more for my guys than the kids so it’s a win all the way around,” said Nicewarner.  “After the camp we want them to know the guy with the number on is John Merica, Jake Bowen, Brice Haines and Chapin Murphy. We want it to be personal to them and we want the kids to feel comfortable to approach them.”

 

Jones said there is no contact during the four-hour camp. No pads or helmets will be worn.

 

“There’s a lot of instruction and a lot of fun,” said Jones. “This works well because of how the age groups all feed into the next system until they get to the varsity level. This is a natural tie in type of event.”

 

Jones said one of the highlights last year involved lunch. He said it’s held in the varsity locker room, which is usually closed on Sundays when the youth football teams are playing.

 

“You could tell they enjoyed it. We want every detail of this to be a fun experience and that included lunch last year and it will be the same this year,” said Jones.

 

Click HERE for a registration form.

 

Editor's Note: Photos are from last year's camp; top two photos are by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.