Ahead of his first season as head coach of the Panthers, Craig Yeast and Kentucky Wesleyan College are hosting the 2019 Football Kids Camp.
The annual event is a partnership between Wesleyan and the Kids Football League, and it will be held July 15-18 at Steele Stadium for children ages 6-14. Camp hours are 9:15 a.m. until noon each day, and July 19 will serve as a make-up day in case of rain.
Yeast said it’s important to do a youth camp because it’s a good way to get involved with the community.
“I think the Owensboro community is great,” he said. “There are a lot of really talented young men that play football. Having this youth camp is a chance to develop a relationship with those young men — teach them some playing skills, teach them some life skills and have fun.”
While Yeast said it will be important to teach some basic football skills, it’s also important to make sure the participants enjoy themselves each day.
“I think it will be a good mixture of both,” he said. “At this age you want to learn as much as you can about the fundamentals of the game, but at the end of the day you want to have a lot of fun.”
Participants will learn basic offensive, defensive and special teams skills. The camp will
feature games, drills, demonstrations, competitions and individual instruction. All athletes will receive a camp T-shirt and a daily lunch.
Yeast said enrollment is not limited, and players from both KFL and the Owensboro-Daviess County Youth Football League — in addition to anyone not playing in either fall youth league — are welcome to attend.
“We would like to have all the young football players in the Owensboro community show up and participate, but you never know what’s going to happen,” he said.
All campers will also receive a pass to all five Wesleyan home games, part of an effort to continue to build the brand of Kentucky Wesleyan football.
“I think one of the things we want to do is make sure every person that shows up at our camp has the opportunity to come to our games during the season,” Yeast said. “We are trying to drum up some interest and get the Owensboro and Daviess County community involved with Kentucky Wesleyan football.”
