Sports

Children Learn About Perseverance at NY Giants-Sponsored Camp

Director: 'We're not just teaching them how to catch a football properly. We're teaching them life skills as well.'

The kids stand in a single-file line. One by one they snap into action. They follow their coaches' eyes and read his body language to try and determine where he will throw the football. 

The young receivers leap into the air and extend their bodies, jumping as high as they can. Some catch the ball, some don't. Whether they do or not almost doesn't matter. It is the effort they give that director Chadd Braine cares about.

"We're teaching them life skills here," Braine said. "We want them to understand that they are not going to succeed at everything they do but if they try their best that that's what really matters."

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More than 28 kids attended a football camp sponsored by the New York Giants the last week of June at Our Lady of the Valley.

The 6- to 14-year-olds did conditioning- and skill-based drills outside and learned about healthy eating and nutrition in a classroom-like setting inside.

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"Are they going to become expert football players off of what they are taught here? Probably not. But if we can get to remember one key skill, like how to properly hold a football, that'd be tremendous," Braine said. "We're trying to give them three or four things about football they can take with them and remember their entires lives."

Charles Way, director of player development for the Giants, attended the camp.

"It is great interacting with the kids and giving your time to make the community where you live a better place," said Way, a Wayne resident. "We try and do our best to teach the kids, which is often the hardest part. We want them to have fun, but we want them to learn as well."

Discipline is a part of that learning process. A group of campers were not listening to their instructor during a drill. He made them sit and be quite for a few minutes before finishing the drill.

With discipline comes character and perseverance. Way said that sports help develop character in young men and women. 

"Everybody wants to succeed, whether in football or something else," Way said. "And learning how to persevere is a big part of that process. You're not going to catch every ball thrown at you or score on every play."


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