Published: July 14, 2008 04:20 pm      

Chickasaw Nation hosts football youth camp

Football skills and life lessons were the focus of the annual Chickasaw Nation Day of Champions Football Camp, conducted July 10-12 at Ada High School football field.

Legends from the game, including former University of Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel, led more than 125 Native American athletes through their paces.

The three-day camp focused on the importance of hard work, respect for others and teamwork.

"Good citizenship and leadership skills are stressed in all the camps offered by the Tribe. It is important we teach our young people these traits. They are our future,” said Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby.

The coaches worked with 11 groups of boys, divided by their age. Passing, running, blocking and other agility drills were offered, along with talks on the value of character and healthy living.

“This camp teaches the four principles of leadership,” said veteran coach Ken Heupel, “trust, discipline, respect, and the capacity for hard work.”

Heupel said attendance at the Ada camp, 129 on Tuesday, was the largest camp his team had conducted this year.

“The turnout is unbelievable and the kids are working so hard.”

When asked what he learned, 8-year-old Bryce Holland of Ada said respect. “If you give people respect, they will give you respect.” He described the camp as “hard.” “They make us be like an NFL player.”

This year marks the sixth year the Chickasaw Nation Champions Football Camp has been offered, and Kodie Shepherd of Ringling has attended every camp. The 15-year-old said he looks forward to the camp each summer.

Parents and campers travel great distances to participate. One camper and his parent drove from Fort Worth, Texas, and still another awoke at 4:30 a.m. to drive from Elgin, Okla., to Ada.

One draw is the coaches. The team is led by Josh Heupel, who is a 2000 Heisman runner-up and now serves as the quarterbacks’ coach for OU. He was joined by his father Ken; Brian Miller, University of Washburn; Jerry Dominguez, Arizona Western University; Josh Norman, San Diego Chargers; Brandon Shelby, University of Arizona; Chuck Hepola, East Central University; Matt Rice, University of Arizona; Aaron Pelch, Millsap University; Justin Iske, Western Arizona; Sharrone Moore, former OU player and Michael Bradshaw, Trey Bandy, and Fletcher Terrell.