By ALBERT VILLEGAS
Special to the NEWS
The San Benito Greyhound football program is hosting its 13th Annual Wardog Football Camp beginning next week.
The camp, held at Bobby Morrow Stadium for incoming seventh through ninth graders, runs from Monday, July 27, through Thursday, July 30.
According to the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District’s Athletic Department administrators, youths interested in participating must complete a camp waiver before attending.
Last year, just under 200 youth participated, and the event was sometimes held inside the fieldhouse to avoid the summer heat, even though it was held in the morning from 8 to 10 a.m.
There’s ample space in the 70,000-square-foot athletic practice facility, according to SBCISD Athletic Director and Head Varsity Football Coach Dan Gomez.
Gomez, who has also been a fixture at these community events, looks forward to the camaraderie. He often gives the campers a pep talk at the start and end of each day.
“The football camp we host for our younger athletes is an event the coaches get excited about,” Coach Gomez said. “It’s what kicks off the football season for us.”
This will be Gomez’s 13th time hosting the youth camp. He said it’s good for the coaching assistant as well.
“We get to work with our middle school and freshman athletes,” Coach Gomez said. “For our coaches, it’s an opportunity to rekindle positive relationships and begin building new ones.”
San Benito CISD has three middle schools: Berta Cabaza, Miller Jordan, and Riverside. Many of the youths who partake in the camp grow up to become football players on the varsity, junior varsity, and freshman teams.
These extraordinary numbers.”
The campers are routinely grouped by grade, school, and position.
Gomez said he has been leading this camp for so long, that past participants have not only graduated from SBHS and college, but also have children of their own.
For information about the camp waiver, contact the SBCISD Athletic Department at 956-361-6587.