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Players and coaches from the Oak Mountain football team helped to teach football skills to the community at the Oak Mountain Football Camp on June 25 and 26. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By TYLER RALEY | Special to the Reporter

NORTH SHELBY – Kids from around the Oak Mountain community came together to learn new skills at the Oak Mountain Football Camp on June 25 and 26 at Heardmont Park.

For head football coach Shane McComb, the camp was another big success in his second year of running it, with 150 campers showing up both days to learn and improve from people within the high school program.

The kids got to participate in stations all throughout the first day, going through fundamentals at every position on the football field before putting it all together on the second day to play Ultimate Football.

McComb believes this is a great opportunity for development and getting kids familiar with all facets of the game for the future.

“A kid that’s in kindergarten or sixth grade, you don’t know what they’re going to turn into by the time they’re a junior or senior in high school,” McComb said. “It’s important for them to learn fundamentals at all positions, so we made sure that first day, they go through six to seven-minute stations and get to do fundamentals at every single position that you would be in on a football field offensively and defensively.”

Campers received instruction from many of the varsity players that suit up on Friday nights for the Eagles, something McComb believes is vastly important to gaining interest in the sport and preparing for the future of the program.

“All these younger kids look at them like they’re heroes,” McComb said. “It’s important to create that connection and that relationship part of our sport and our program from an early age. Everybody that gets to wear an Eagle helmet, whether it’s in third grade or varsity, is in one way, shape or form a part of this program, and it’s important to make sure they’re learning the little things so by the time they get to the high school it’s not starting from scratch.”

Heading into this season, this camp is making a large impact on the community as the Eagles continue to grow in numbers and hope to only go up.

Going into his second year at the helm, McComb is optimistic that this camp will be an eye-opener to anyone who is interested in playing football at Oak Mountain as the Eagles try to returnto prominence in the coming years.

“I just need to bring this community together as much as possible,” McComb said. “It’s about showing my face and getting to know these kids at a young age, and on top of that, putting together events like this… It’s as much as we can bring this community together and get behind this program, the better it’s going to be for us in the future.”

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