Ex-Division I football player Brandon Sanders, who coaches as an assistant for the Greenwave football and boys basketball teams, created Mind of a Champion football camp, which concluded its second year earlier this month.
The camp continues to gain steam and there are no signs of it slowing down.
After hosting the Mind of a Champion football camp last year for three days during the summer, Brandon Sanders’ camp returned for an encore this month. Higher numbers and a longer camp with more drills highlighted the second year.
Featuring campers as young as 8 all the way through high school, Mind of a Champion helped get its participants ready for the new football season – physically and mentally. Along with Sanders, coaches from the Greenwave football program and several of Sanders’ close friends who competed at the college level also assisted.
“Our motto is building a team of champions with a winner’s mentality, winning spiritually, mentally and physically,” said Sanders, who assists Brooke Hill’s football program and Chelle Dalager’s boys basketball team. “At the end of the day, I believe football is just a platform and it has an opportunity to build character.”
After the inaugural camp was limited to 13- to 18-year-olds, Sanders opened it up to the younger players, creating two sessions based on age (8-12 and 13-18).
Throughout all the instruction, drills and games, one of the highlights came at the end of the camp when Ben Otuafi was in the center of the group. The quiet giant opened up in front of his fellow campers about needing to be there for his teammates and being more vocal as a leader.
“For me, it was just opening up to all the young kids,” said Otuafi, a returning lineman for this year’s varsity team. “Last year, I was listening to all of my seniors and just taking notes and learning off of them. But now since I’m a senior this year, I’ve got to start teaching them. I wanted to get better as a team. I met a couple of my linemen and we got to bond more.”
Practices have already begun for the Fallon Youth Football League and will begin this week for Fallon’s Pop Warner program. The high school football season officially begins next week with its season opener on Aug. 24.
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