Beautiful Eagle Creek was a happening place Wednesday morning with youngsters running, diving, catching, blocking, learning and - most importantly - having fun.
The scene was the first of several summer football camps hosted by first-year Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher, who had more than 60 kids ages 6-12 on the school’s practice fields for his Little Eagle youth camp this week.
“The main thing is for the guys to have a good time and a lot of fun,” Hatcher said. “While we are doing that, we want to teach them some basic fundamentals of football, and hopefully they enjoy it enough and grow up and want to be Eagles.”
The kids weren’t the only ones having a good time on the gridiron, so was Hatcher’s staff, which was assisting with the camp.
“It’s fun for our coaches,” Hatcher said. “We enjoy working with this age group. The kids are enjoying it, learning a little bit of football and getting to be out here on Georgia Southern’s practice fields.”
Camp activities include learning the essentials of the sport such as how to tackle, throw, run and block, along with a few agility drills. The key, Hatcher said, is finding a way to make the drills enjoyable for the kids, something that isn’t as easy with Georgia Southern’s players.
“It’s funny because some of the drills we do our players don’t like but these young boys really like to do them,” Hatcher said. “It just depends on what age you are.”
Hatcher will host three more camps including a quarterback school beginning next Wednesday, a passing tournament and a skill/team camp in the coming weeks.
Having fun and teaching the fundamentals of football aren’t the only goals of Hatcher and his staff this week. They are also aiming to give the kids a good impression of Georgia Southern as a whole.
“Hopefully, they’ll have a good time and go home and talk their mommas and daddies into bringing them to games on Saturdays in the fall,” Hatcher said.
For more information on the camps call (912) 681-5522.
The scene was the first of several summer football camps hosted by first-year Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher, who had more than 60 kids ages 6-12 on the school’s practice fields for his Little Eagle youth camp this week.
“The main thing is for the guys to have a good time and a lot of fun,” Hatcher said. “While we are doing that, we want to teach them some basic fundamentals of football, and hopefully they enjoy it enough and grow up and want to be Eagles.”
The kids weren’t the only ones having a good time on the gridiron, so was Hatcher’s staff, which was assisting with the camp.
“It’s fun for our coaches,” Hatcher said. “We enjoy working with this age group. The kids are enjoying it, learning a little bit of football and getting to be out here on Georgia Southern’s practice fields.”
Camp activities include learning the essentials of the sport such as how to tackle, throw, run and block, along with a few agility drills. The key, Hatcher said, is finding a way to make the drills enjoyable for the kids, something that isn’t as easy with Georgia Southern’s players.
“It’s funny because some of the drills we do our players don’t like but these young boys really like to do them,” Hatcher said. “It just depends on what age you are.”
Hatcher will host three more camps including a quarterback school beginning next Wednesday, a passing tournament and a skill/team camp in the coming weeks.
Having fun and teaching the fundamentals of football aren’t the only goals of Hatcher and his staff this week. They are also aiming to give the kids a good impression of Georgia Southern as a whole.
“Hopefully, they’ll have a good time and go home and talk their mommas and daddies into bringing them to games on Saturdays in the fall,” Hatcher said.
For more information on the camps call (912) 681-5522.
