Ashburn Youth Get Football 101 Course
ASHBURN, VA - It's no wonder the Ashburn area is becoming one of the best hotbeds for football talent. They start grooming their stars at a young age. This past weekend, the Ashburn Youth Football League held its first of two full contact camps this summer. The camp, which featured kids of most ages, was held near Briar Woods High School. Not only did those in attendance get to learn from former Redskin players like Ricky Ervins and Eddie Mason, but all of the high school coaches from Ashburn were hired to help run the camp. Mickey Thompson, Mike Burnett, and Charlie Pierce and their staff's all worked to help mold some young Ashburn football stars of the future.
Troy Cromwell, AYFL President, was the brain child of the camps. His goal was to get every level of player ages 8 though 14 out on the field to learn and teach the game of football from coaches and players at the high school, college and pro level.
The AYFL contacted former Redskins Ricky Ervins, Eddie Mason, Raleigh McKenzie, Earnest Byner, Andre Collins, current Redskins Shawn Springs, Coach Danny Smith and former Maryland and NFL Star JB Brown to help out, and they did so willingly.
In addition to this crop of coaches Cromwell was able to recruit a number of his former teammates from the 1986 National Championship Penn State team to help coach too. DJ Dozier, Leonard Humphries, Keith Goganious, Troy Davis, and Andre Collins all participated. All of these guys not only played for Joe Paterno at Penn State, but they also played in the NFL.
The campers had a great time practicing, playing and competing on the football field. The goal was to teach, and teach, and teach during this camp. The staff was committed to providing the children the fundamental skills necessary to become better football players, better athletes and stronger leaders. Lessons on leadership, commitment, determination, discipline, and character were all a part of each camper's experience.
It was a busy week for the campers and they were worn out at the end of each day. They participated in 4 straight days of 2-a-day practices, followed by a practice/scrimmage session on the final day of camp. Day 5 of the camp included with an hour long practice session, followed by 2 hours of scrimmages, and a friends and family BBQ. The camp concluded with a great speech by Redskins Special Teams Coach Danny Smith on teamwork, attitude, and decision making.
It was a great experience for all involved and the AYFL is looking forward to its next camp, July 8th thru July 12th where we already have over 145 kids coming to learn from the same staff that attended this first camp.
About the Camps:
AYFL is sponsoring two contact football camps this summer. This first one was this past week, June 25 thru June 29th. The second one is July 8th thru 12. All in all we have in excess of 300 campers (176 in June Camp and 145 signed up for our July camp) attending the two camps. The camps are being held in Brambleton at the fields next to the National recreation and Parks Association building located at 22377 Belmont Ridge Road in Ashburn, VA.
Ashburn Youth Football League is a youth sports league created for the children of Ashburn, Virginia and the surrounding areas. The AYFL exists to promote youth football in the Ashburn area, and is intended to be an instructional league that places an emphasis on the sound development of players and fundamentals of football, and strives to be a league that will inspire our youth to develop life skills of sportsmanship, character and teamwork.
The AYFL started play in 2000, and has continued to evolve into one of the premier youth leagues in the state of Virginia. Starting with the 2008 season, AYFL will no longer offer flag football, and will concentrate on being a tackle football organization. Youth ages 6 and 7 as of August 31 will now be able to participate in a tackle program, the AYFL D League, that will be a purely developmental league designed to teach the basics of tackle football and prepare the youth for the more competitive A (Ages 12-14), B (Ages 10 & 11) and C (Ages 8 & 9)leagues and beyond.
