Passing along knowledge
JACKSON TWP — Year after year, hundreds of youths show up for the Ben Roethlisberger Football Camp.
It didn't take long for Evans City resident Nathan Humes to figure out why.
“It's amazing what Ben puts on here. He interacts with a lot of the kids,” said Humes, whose son, Jackson, was one of the 420 campers to take part in this year's event, which was held Saturday and Sunday at Seneca Valley's NexTier Stadium.
“The coaches working the camp really teach the kids during the drills in a limited amount of time,” he said.
“My grandma told my dad about the camp and asked if I would like to come,” said Jackson, 13. “I thought about it for a week and decided a month and a half ago that I would like to sign up for it.
“My favorite part of the camp was going out for a pass from Ben.”
Roethlisberger threw a pass to every one of the camp's participants, which included kids ages 7-14. He said afterward with a smile, “My arm's a little sore, but I'll be ready for the season. As long as the kids are having fun, that's what is important. It gets them off the couch for a while, gets them away from electronics.”
Most of the action took place inside the stadium, but some groups of kids spilled out to the practice fields surrounding the venue.
This marked the fifth straight year that the camp was held at Seneca Valley. ProCamps CEO Gregg Darbyshire described why the event has found a home in Jackson Township.
“The staff here, starting with the athletic director (Heather Lewis), they've always been great to work with,” he said. “This is one of the best facilities in the Pittsburgh area to host a camp of this size. The stadium is very nice and the land around it is flat. You can't just find that everywhere.”
The Steelers' minicamp begins this week and beginning in late July, the team will hold its annual training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe.Roethlisberger has taken part in the Steelers' last 11 training camps, so he knows what this year's rookies are in for.“It's a whirlwind,” he said. “You go from playing in college to the draft and then right into preparing for an NFL season. The first-year guys think they're ready for it, but they're really not. They are in for a rude awakening.”One of this year's rookies is wide receiver Sammie Coates, an Auburn University product who the Steelers took in the third round of the NFL Draft in May. Last fall, Coates grabbed 34 passes for 741 yards and four touchdowns. He led the Tigers with an impressive 21.8 yards-per-reception average.“I haven't been able to see much of the talent he has, we've just been in helmets so far, no pads,” Roethlisberger said. “But we have a strong group of receivers, so he's going to have to work very hard to earn a spot.”That corps of incumbent receivers is led by Antonio Brown, a six-year pro who last year earned First Team All-Pro honors after catching a league-leading 129 passes for 1,698 yards.“He gets better every year,” Roethlisberger said of Brown. “He's working to be even better this season.”
