CHESAPEAKE, Va. — For the kids at the Children Today Leaders Tomorrow Youth Football Camp it all starts in the huddle. Started in 2010, the camp is an annual tradition that brings together athletes, local coaches and sheriffs to learn skills on and off the field.
“We're teaching them respect. We're teaching them how to interact with each other. We're teaching them that there's a certain language and posture that you need to display," Head Coach Cadillac Harris said.
Harris is one of the many volunteers who help the kids learn offense, defense and special teams.
On the field for year 13, the football camp has 200 kids from across the area in attendance. But with temperatures in the high 80s, the camp tackles the elements just as hard.
"We have water supply all throughout the camp, and they're taking multiple breaks whenever they can and whenever they want to," the Chesapeake Undersheriff, David Rosado said.
Rosado is one of the leaders of the camp along with Harris. They say their partnership with CHKD is one of the first things they arrange yearly. Cadillac says the hospital provides trainers and technology to ensure everyone is safe.
"They have been a partner to our camp for more than 13 years...They have a heat index machine that will tell us when we have to break, and how long we have to break for. If we have a thunderstorm or any thunder and lightning, they're going to move us into another facility that will not be in danger. They take care of all of those things for us.”
With hotter temperatures expected tomorrow, coaches say more water breaks and rest will be in play.
Day two of the camp will wrap up with a free cookout for the players, their parents, the coaches and the volunteers.