This year's camp began Monday, June 22, 2020, and with social distancing during the current COVID-19 pandemic in mind, it is being offered as a virtual digital camp instead of the usual experience at Independence Stadium. Youth can take part free online through the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Facebook page.
Early registrants received a T-shirt and a free pizza from Notini’s, courtesy of several sponsors: ANECA Federal Credit Union, Hancock Whitney Investment Services, attorneys David “Dell Harville and Allen Haynes and Notini's Restaurant.
"We wanted to maintain our tradition of having a free football camp for kids, which has been so popular, but we had to do it an a way that was completely safe for the community,” said Caddo Parish Chief Deputy District Attorney Wilbert Pryor. Pryor knows the value of camps and the experience they provide, as he is a former Vanderbilt University football player.
The District Attorney’s Office reached out to past NFL players who had volunteered their time at the previous camps to submit videos for budding athletes to work with at home. Michael Young, an NFL free agent cornerback whose teams have included the New York Giants, Oklahoma State and West Monroe High, and former NFL quarterback and LSU/Evangel great Josh Booty heeded the call, as did Huntington High School football coach Steve Dennis. All provided videos for workout tips and drills for kids to do at home. Just press "play" and you are ready for a workout.
"Every year at our camp, Michael Hunter shows up and tells the camp participants that he was not only a multi-sport star athlete at West Monroe, but that he, just like Green Oaks' Tredavious White of the Buffalo Bills, was also the valedictorian of their high schools," said Caddo Parish District Attorney James E. Stewart Sr. “That is the type of message that kids need to hear."
New football workout videos are added every week for the six weeks of the virtual camp. Participating young athletes are encouraged to submit videos of themselves doing the drills for prizes to be awarded throughout the camp.
To be a part of the virtual camp, just log on to the Caddo Parish District Attorney Facebook page, press "like" and join the group.