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newlenoxpatriot.com sports
the new lenox patriot | July 18, 2019 | 39
fastbreak
Football
Future Knights pack LW Central youth camp
22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE
PHOTO
1st and 3
THREE AREA SOFTBALL
PLAYERS TO WATCH IN
COLLEGE
1. Amanda Weyh
Weyh (above)
looks to follow
up her dominant
senior season at
LW Central with a
successful career
at Lindenwood.
2. Gabriella Gedville
The Knights’ fast,
productive leadoff
hitter is continuing
her career at
Winona State.
3. Sarah Taheny
Taheny, who
emerged as a
powerful threat in
LW West’s lineup
her senior season,
is not going far as
she’s set to play at
St. Francis in Joliet.
STEVE MILLAR, Sports Editor
Over 140 grade school
kids participated in Lincoln-Way
Central’s fourday
youth football camp
last week.
Central coach Jeremy
Cordell was thrilled to
see so many eager campers,
ready to compete and
learn even on some of the
summer’s hottest days.
“It’s a great turnout,”
Cordell said. “Every year,
it’s grown exponentially.
This year is no different
with 140-plus kids. The
kids love it. It’s an opportunity
for them to be with
their buddies, work with
our kids.
“We just want to give
them something to hold
on to and to get them excited
for Lincoln-Way
Central Knights football.”
The campers split into
age groups and rotated
through various drills and
competitions, each directed
by a few Knights players
and a coach.
All the Central players
who helped run the camp
thus had an opportunity to
work with each age group.
“It’s a lot of fun,” senior
offensive lineman Ricky
Dobson said. “We get to
interact with them, see
who the upcoming future
Knights are and see how
they work.
“It’s great because I
get to enjoy playing the
game of football and then
I have a bunch of kids in
the community looking up
to me. That means a lot to
me.”
Senior linebacker Mason
Lyons said he enjoyed
interacting with some of
the kids he sees cheering
on the Knights in the fall.
“These kids are always
out here watching us,” he
said. “They see us get to
go out there and do our
thing. That’s really cool.
So, to be able to play football
with them and teach
them some things is really
fun for us.”
The youth players had
a chance to test out Central’s
brand new field turf
as they went through a
wide variety of drills designed
to improve their
all-around games.
Dobson and Lyons, both
captains for the Knights,
encouraged kids to be vocal.
“The main thing I want
to tell them is, ‘Don’t be
scared to be a leader,’ Lyons
said. ‘Get out of your
comfort zone. Everyone is
here for the same reason.
If you be a leader, people
follow you and it’s great
to have that feeling.’”
Lyons felt both sides
benefitted from the camp.
While he hopes the campers
learned a lot from him
and his teammates, the
opportunity to coach gave
the Knights a chance to
perfect their own techniques
as well.
“It helps us a lot because
we’re just reteaching
what we already know
to the little guys,” he said.
“They’re younger so they
don’t understand things
as fast as we do so when
we have to really break it
down for them that helps
us, too.”
The camp was just one
of many opportunities
Central football players
have taken to give back to
the community this summer.
“We’re big on service
and being leaders,”
Cordell said. “The guys
are on sort of sub-teams
over the summer and part
of the competition with
each other is doing community
service.
“We’ve had guys working
in food pantries, one
team did a [Lincolnway
Special Recreation Association]
softball tournament.
Our guys see that there are
a lot of ways you can help
out and give back, and
they enjoy doing it.”
The service time also
provides opportunities
for team bonding, a major
point of emphasis over the
summer.
“It’s important to get
closer as a team because
when it comes to game
time, everyone has to be
on the same page,” Lyons
said.
Dobson sees his team
coming together.
“It’s been a good summer,”
he said. “I think
we’ve grown a lot as a
team and individuals and
Participants in Lincoln-Way Central’s youth football
camp receive instructions from Knights players and
coaches July 9. Photos by Steve Millar/22ND CENTURY
MEDIA
Lincoln-Way Central football coach Jeremy Cordell
demonstrates block-shedding techniques to
participants in the Knights’ youth football camp July 9.
we’re ready for the season.”
One day, some of the
kids who attended the
youth camp will likely be
preparing for their own
season with the Knights.
“We told our guys that
these are the kids that are
going to fill their shoes
one day,” Cordell said.
“We told our players,
‘These kids really look up
to you and you’re carrying
on that legacy of Knights
football.’”
LISTEN UP
“I feel I have to prove myself to the upperclassmen and
to the coaches and make a name for myself again.”
Abi Baumgartner – 2019 Lincoln-Way Central graduate, on
returning from an injury and preparing for her freshman
season at Wisconsin-Whitewater
Tune In
Girls Volleyball
Thursday, July 18 and Tuesday, July 23
• Velocity Summer League
• LW Central, LW West and Providence are all competing in the
Mokena-based summer league.
Index
38 - Sports Briefs
35 - Athlete of the Week
FASTBREAK is compiled by Sports Editor
Steve Millar at s.millar@22ndcm.com.