Colorado State University Athletics
Fairchild, Rams to host first high-school team camps
5/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
May 29, 2008
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - For the first time ever, Colorado State football coaches next week will host a full-contact team camp for high-school squads. The team camp kicks off a full month of youth football activities, most of which have space remaining.
The team camp, June 4-7, offers the eight Colorado teams in attendance an opportunity to compete against each other and do it in front of one of the top Division I coaching staffs in the region, with instruction from the Rams' staff, on the Colorado State practice fields and in its meeting facilities.
Thanks to recent changes in state rules, high-school coaches now are able to dress their teams in full pads and attend camps such as the one CSU offers next week.
"Most coaches, from high school to the NFL, relish the chance to scrimmage against guys in different-colored shirts," said new CSU Head Coach Steve Fairchild, who spent the past seven years as an NFL coach. "When you have an opportunity to put your team in competitive situations in practice, it just makes you better. And when those situations are against another team, that's the next-best thing to an actual game."
In addition to those head-to-head opportunities, the schools will gain valuable team-building experience in a camp environment that allows players to focus and learn effectively while using the Rams' official team facilities, including film and meeting rooms. CSU also offers an educational element, teaching participants about NCAA rules regarding the recruiting process.
"Everybody's here without distractions," Fairchild said. "Nobody has a job to go to. No one has to run errands. I think the prep coaches really will like it because it offers what an NFL training camp offers, the ability to get away from everyday life and focus on football. That's how you get better. It'll be an intense week."
The week's schedule:
June 4 (Weds.): 2 p.m. Initial practice sessions
7 p.m. Practices/scrimmages
June 5 (Thurs.): 8:30 a.m. Practices/scrimmages
2 p.m. Practices/scrimmages
7 p.m. Practices/scrimmages
June 6 (Fri.): 8:30 a.m. Practices/scrimmages
2 p.m. Practices/scrimmages
7 p.m. Practices/scrimmages
Sat. (Sat.) 8:30 a.m. Final practices/scrimmages
SPACE AVAILABLE FOR OTHER CAMPS: This summer, the Rams also will conduct three camps, two for high school juniors and seniors and a third for youth in third through eighth grades. Juniors and seniors have two opportunities to learn from the Rams coaching staff as the university will hold a pair of one-day camps, June 14 and July 26. Cost is $40 per person and includes lunch. Youth in grades 3-8 can take part in a non-padded camp June 9-11. That session is $275 for overnight campers or $175 for commuters.
Most of the CSU coaching staff has sons and daughters the same age of the camp participants. Fairchild also knows that football is unique.
"The thing about football," Fairchild said, "is when they get to the high-school level and higher, kids don't practice all positions like they do in other sports. There are so many different skill sets in football. You have to find what you're good at, and these camps help bring that out. It helps to get high-level instruction, and that's why we're here.
"It's fun, too. It's a camp in every sense of the word. They get to stay overnight in a dorm. They have a memorable experience, and it's in a controlled environment with 24-hour supervision."
To register for the camps, those interested should click here, or call 970/491-6131.
"I can't speak for coaches at other camps," Fairchild said, "but I know that our coaches have a genuine interest in these camps. We want these kids to leave Fort Collins as better football players, no matter what their age. We have a new coaching staff and because they're new, those coaches are really looking forward to this first camp experience."
