Football camp at hit at Callaway
Published 1:41 pm Wednesday, July 12, 2017
By Kevin Eckleberry
kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com
HOGANSVILLE – It’s a highlight of his year.
Pete Wiggins is the head football coach at Callaway, and he spends most of his time working with players in the high-school age group.
For one day each year, he serves a much younger clientele.
The eighth Pete Wiggins Football Camp was held on Tuesday morning, with dozens of boys and girls spending three hours learning the sport on the school’s practice field.
Wiggins was helped out by his assistant coaches, as well as a number of Callaway players, most of whom were a part of the camp when they were younger.
“We’ve been running the camp long enough to see younger brothers come through, to see current varsity players that went through the camp five or six years ago,” said Wiggins, who is heading into his 13th season as the Cavaliers’ head coach. “And that’s really special.”
Matt Napier, who has been Wiggins’ offensive coordinator since the 2005 season, said “it’s special to see all the kids come through.”
“I guess that’s a sign of the longevity of us,” he added. “We’ve been here long enough to see the kids come up through the Pete Wiggins Football Camp and come and play for him.”
Since the camp’s inception, Wiggins has made it a point to involve his players as instructors, and he takes a lot of joy from watching them interact with the youngsters.
“The best part about it for me is watching our older kids teach and coach the younger players,” Wiggins said. “I think it builds chemistry on your football team, and I think it develops leaders. That’s a big part of being successful.”
One of the men helping out as an instructor was Jalen Moss, who’ll be a senior offensive lineman this season.
Moss was a camper himself during his middle-school days, and he enjoys being on the teaching side.
“It’s fun being out here the little kids, teaching them all the things we went through to get to this point where we are now,” Moss said. “They’re the future, so you’ve got to teach them.”
The camp started at 9 a.m. and went until noon.
Wiggins and the other instructors kept the dozens of campers on the go.
When it was over, each of the campers received a free T-shirt.
“It was a great day today,” Wiggins said. “There was a lot of energy from the young kids. We had a big crowd, and I appreciate the parents coming out, and I appreciate the coaches. They really enjoy this. It’s a fun time to be out here with the kids.”
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