MEGA CAMPS · KICKERSCAMP: Kicking Skool

MEGA CAMPS

There are plenty of college "Mega Camps" around the country now. Universities now see the how they can get some quick money ($100/camper x 600+ kids) by putting on a combine while bringing in "friendly* programs and scouts" from other colleges to attract high schoolers to show off what they can do.

Everyone wins... but know that it's not the "be all end all" thing many think it is.

The real trick is that you get to see how you stack up against kids just like you. As a specialist, you're lucky to get a handful of the scouts who've come there to watch the kickers. They're there mostly to find one good QB, receiver, runningback and big man. You're the after-thought.

However, at this week's Minnesconsin MEGA CAMP at UW-River Falls, I headed up the testing and ran about 30 kids through the kicking and punting gauntlet in about an hour and a half. My job was to give them the chance to be seen. We had some really good kids there... and some who need a lot more training... but ALL got the chance to feel some pressure, get official stats and as I said before...

you get to see how good you really are. For many, it's an eye-opener, for some, it is a BIG CONFIDENCE BOOSTER.

*"friendly" - meaning they don't invite coaches from their own conference, so they have friends in other divisions typically, who come in. In the case of UW-River Falls, you won't find UW-Whitewater or UW-La Crosse there (WIAC), but you will see U of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, South Dakota State, Northern Michigan and schools like St. Olaf and Minnesota State.

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