Secaucus recreation football players went straight to the pros for their first summer football camp. Town officials and coaches drafted current and former Jets and Giants players to organize and run the camp, which ran from Thursday, June 24 to Sat, June 26. Fifty-seven kids participated at the camp.
“This was the NFL Secaucus Patriots Mini-Camp. We’ve done nothing like this before,” said Recreation Director John Voli. “It was better than we expected.”
The camp was organized by former New York Giant Brian Kelly, who organizes football camps all over the country. Kelly pulled in other NFL players and conferred with town coaches to create a program catered to the young players’ needs.
“The first thing is to never give up because football is like life,” said Kelly. “It’s an up and down situation. Sometimes, you’re going to do great, and sometimes people will knock you down and you’ll have to get up and do it again, and do it better next time.”
Thursday was the defensive camp with Marty Lions, former Jets Defensive End, and Linebackers Harry Carson and Kelly. The children were broken into five stations, with a pro or coach at each station, where they worked on techniques, drills, and footwork, including positioning towards the ball and the quarterback. Nine or 10 young players worked at each station for twenty five minutes.
“We started them out with some stretching exercises and calisthenics to get them loose so they don’t pull a muscle when they do their drills,” said Voli.
Friday, the young players were given a taste of the big time with a trip to Giants Stadium.
“We took a tour of the locker rooms, the training room, the weight room,” said Voli. “We were able to go out on the field so the kids could see what that was like.”
While in the locker room, the children touched rookie Quarterback Eli Manning’s helmet.
The day ended in the press room, located in the skyboxes at the top of the stadium, where they had lunch. Saturday, Jets Offensive Tackle Ian Allen, Giants Tight End Visanthe Shiancoe and retired Jets Running Back Bruce Harper trained the kids in offensive drills.
Kelly was a linebacker for 13 years, seven of which he led in tackles.
“He was known as one of the hardest hitting linebackers,” said Town Administrator Anthony Iacono. “The one who stole his thunder was Lawrence Taylor.”
Taylor and Kelly, along with Carlson and Brad Van Pelt, were collectively known as the “Crunch Bunch.” “I think it’s great to give something back,” said Kelly. “It’s rewarding for me to play, so it’s nice to give something back. If I was a young kid, to have a professional football player come in, it would be a thrill.” Secaucus has three levels of recreation football: The Pee Wee Division for ages seven to nine; the Junior Division for ages 10 and 11, and the Senior Division for ages 12 and 13. The Pee Wee Division was undefeated last year and won their level’s Super Bowl.
All children are allowed to sign up for the town’s league, although they get more playing time based on their abilities.
Iacono said that the recreation football program helps the kids get an edge by the time they get into high school. The high school team has made the playoffs for the past two years in a row.
“[High School Coach Charlie Vorhees] gains freshman with five to six years experience,” said Iacono. “They learn the fundamentals of the program at an early age.”
Recreation Football season starts in August.