John "JT" Torres, SCV Gridiron  (7/11)

Fun, Fun, Fun…As the Beach Boys song goes, “Fun, fun, fun till daddy took the football away…”.    Actually, the song did not actually say “football” but Coach Monte at Valencia sure did!

To recap the week, the young clinic attendees signed up for Valencia High Schools’  “Purple and Gold” Youth Football Clinic and had a heck of a good time the first night out, this past Tuesday.  The boys learned offense, defense and did some kicking.  The campers loved it. 

The second night the boys again had fun learning new skills, however, tonight coaches from Velocity Sports were on scene running the campers through some dynamic stretching.  

The third night…well all I can say is ‘WOW’.  Coach Monte and his crew of highly-motivated coaches held a pool-play style passing tournament.  The kids had a super time not only playing football but competing and using the skills they learned over the last two nights in an actual game type of situation.   The boys did not disappoint and I for one, got my moneys worth when I saw my own lad “pick” three passes for interceptions and run one catch back for a score. 

Many players I know shined in this event.  Connor “Elmo” Elward played a good hard game and looked good throwing the ball.  Matt “Sasquatch” Palma played some sound defense and looked improved from the first day out there.  Nicky “Buddha” Stearns caught several passes for long yardage as well.   E.J. Delarippa, aka, The Doctor, performed well beyond his 11 years of age.

Kudos to Coach Joe Monteleone, Coach Muir and the Valencia High School players for a job-well-done.  They put together exactly what promising young football players in this area need.  A safe environment to learn football skills with great coaches and a time to have fun.   See you at the 2009 Purple and Gold Clinic.     JT