When I sat down with Marlowe Brinson and K.C. Adams a couple days ago to talk about the 7th Annual Myles Brinson/JR Adams Annual Football Camp starting July 7, I expected a friendly conversation. In the past, the two have been gracious in allowing me to ask them sensitive questions about their sons, who each died at too young an age and now are the namesake of the camp.
So when Brinson was telling me how he views me, someone he had offered a coaching position at the camp for a day, and then said I wasn't his friend, my eyes popped for a second.
"We don't believe in friends," he said. "Everybody that comes out there (to the camp), including yourself, you're not a friend anymore. You're not."
Suddenly, I was feeling a bit nervous. Was I going to be a tackling dummy?
"You're part of our family," he continued.
It may not have been noticeable, but inside I exhaled a small sigh of relief. I was still welcome.
What I saw from attending the camp last year and speaking with both men, is that a football camp can mean much more than learning the fundamentals. The pair have steadily grown the annual event by taking a personal approach to relating to the kids.
"Football is all fine and dandy, but what we're trying to talk about is that football be a part of what were trying to do, and that's just build a family," Adams said. "I believe, as lucky as we were to have our great kids, the community helped raise them."
And that's when it becomes obvious that when the two say family, it's not limited to bloodlines or brotherhood. It's about everyone coming together to make life easier for one another. It's idealistic, but it rings true.
With 150 kids attending last year, five times as many as the first, and enough coaches to outnumber an NFL staff, no player is being left behind. In addition to teaching technique, the camp, which will run for five days, will also focus on faith and one's responsibility to community.
"They take the values that we give them and implement them in their daily lives," Brinson said.
Speaking on behalf of the news'' toy department, the sports section, I don't know how many life lessons I'll be teaching as coach for a day. But I don't doubt I'll learn something.
The Seventh annual Myles Brinson/JR Adams Football Camp
The Myles Brinson/JR Adams Annual Football Camp will be taking place July 7-11, from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. each day. It will take place at Anchorpoint Christian School in Gilroy and costs $60. To sign up or find out more information, go to http://www.mylesandjrfootballcamp.com or call Sherida Brinson at 846-5918.
Josh Koehn Josh Koehn is a sports writer for South Valley Newspapers. He can be reached at jkoehn@svnewspapers.com.
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