Bearcats giving back to community
Ruston held its eighth annual Youth Football Camp this week, with local kids getting a chance to work with current Bearcat players and coaches. Leader photo by Matt Belinson
The next generation of Ruston football stars got a taste of what it takes to be a Bearcat at the program’s eighth annual Ruston Youth Football Camp Monday and Tuesday.
Campers ranged from kindergarten to fifth grade, learning skills from current Bearcat coaches and players over a two-hour period. The separate sixth to ninth grade camp was canceled this year due to scheduling conflicts. However, Ruston football coach Jerrod Baugh was thankful the youth camp was able to find a new date and go off without a hitch.
“I think it’s great,” Baugh said of the camp’s continuation. “That was one of the things when we looked at the weather and decisions being made on how we were going to proceed, we really wanted to do something for the smaller kids because sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth grade kids have already started practice. The younger kids we really wanted to do something for. Didn’t want to have a lapse in having it. I appreciate the parents for bearing with us and making it happen.”
The Ruston Football Camp, now eight years strong, serves as a bridge between the present and future Bearcats in an evening of competitive fun while also teaching real skills to help youth progress throughout their playing careers. Baugh can see each year campers are eager to learn and watch current players helping them — treating them like local celebrities in their own way.
Winning the state championship with an undefeated 14-0 record like Ruston did last season will do that.
“These older kids enjoy it just as much as the younger kids. It’s good to see them work with them,” Baugh said. “And it’s like I tell them all the time, the kids look at them like they’re professional football players. I think it’s been really good for our team.”
“I want them out here to be involved and have a good time. Lot of these guys remember when they came through the camp, and they were that age,” Baugh added. “We’ve been doing it long enough now to where they understand what it means to the little ones because they’ve been in that position. It’s been really good for everybody in our football program.”
Ruston’s season opener is set for Sept. 6 at home against Acadiana, with preseason scrimmages against C.E. Byrd and Neville taking place in late August.
