Just how fortunate are the young football athletes in the city of Orange?
While most youngsters receive tips from your average coach, the folks from Orange are instead taught by Jay Alford, a former Tornado, Orange High School class of 2002 and defensive tackle for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
“Yes, these kids truly are extremely lucky to have someone like Jay here to help show them the way,”
said OHS head football coach Randy Daniel, while coaching the first-ever “Jay Alford Play It Smart Youth Football Camp”
that ran from July 7-11 at Bell Stadium in Orange.
Daniel said approximately 50 children from ages 6-14 participated in the camp.
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“This was our first year doing this, but next year I could easily see us doubling that number,”
said Daniel, noting Alford also made sure to bring some of his teammates along to the camp as well. “These kids have the best coaches anyone could ever ask for.”
Overall, Daniel said the camp’s main objective focused on the children of Orange.
“This is all for the local youth, and for us, this is about promoting football,”
he said. “We just want to get them going and try to get them motivated and knowing that Jay is also from Orange, is great motivation for anyone else from Orange, who is also trying to make it.”
However, just in case, “they can’t make it,”
Daniel said other guest speakers attended the camp to help teach the youngsters about non-football-related issues.
“Not everyone is going to make it, so there always has to be a strong backup plan,”
said Daniel, noting the kids at the camp were involved in various contests and conditioning drills throughout the week. “We’ll be doing a lot of games and we’ll be having as much fun as possible.”
Daniel, who has been the OHS head coach since 1996, was truly appreciative of his former player for coming back to his hometown to help inspire the young players.
“For him to come and do this, he didn’t have to do this,”
said Daniel of Alford, an All-American at Penn State. “It’s nice that he did it. He didn’t owe anybody nothing. But for him to come back and do this, shows the type of person he really is. I’m grateful for that.”
Notably, the Orange coach, who commended the recreation department and its director, Keith Pressey, for their help in sponsoring the weeklong camp, said most of the staff were current or former players on the high school’s varsity squad.
“In Orange, we’re one big family and the relationships we establish on the football field last forever,”
said Daniel. Meanwhile, Pressey also noted other aspects that the camp tried to teach to the youth.
“This is a highly-intense, five-day no-contact football camp that is solely dedicated to developing skills technique,”
the director said.
