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University of Minnesota Athletics
Tim Brewster Minnesota Football Camps Under Way
6/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
The Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex and Rod Wallace Field have been buzzing with young football players for nearly a week now. The activity will continue through early next week, as well.
The Tim Brewster Minnesota Football Camps began Sunday (June 15) and will run through this Tuesday (June 24).
The camps began with a high school camp Sunday through Tuesday. Another high school session is slated for this week, running June 22-24. The high school camps give young student-athletes a chance to get on campus and hone their skills under the tutelage of first-class collegiate coaches.
“I really think the most positive aspect of the camp is bringing young kids on our campus and them seeing how we coach, how we are as people,” Brewster said. “We’re still in the process of gaining trust throughout the state of Minnesota. This is a great opportunity for our staff to gain trust from coaches, from kids, from parents. Seeing how we work and how we do things on a consistent basis is the most positive thing from the camp.”
It is also an opportunity for the coaching staff to take a look at some high school players who may become Golden Gophers one day.
“Our opportunity to see some of the top players in the state is a very good thing,” Brewster said. “We have a lot of kids in the out-state areas that maybe people don’t know a lot about. They come to our football camp and they’ve got an opportunity to be seen. Not only can they be seen by us at the University of Minnesota. But we have coaches from every level in the state of Minnesota, so there’s a place for every young kid that comes to football camp to play college football. That’s the really exciting thing about this camp opportunity here at the U.”
In between the two high school sessions is the camp for the younger group, with campers ranging from second through eighth grades. Coach Brewster and his staff emphasize the basics in the youth camp, giving the youngsters a solid foundation to build their game upon. There is also a lot of fun to be had during these youth camps.
“I truly believe in the dream of being a Minnesota Golden Gopher,” Brewster said. “That dream is cultivated at this age. We can have these young kids on campus, be around these kids, plant the seed in their mind that If I do good things, if I study hard in school and work hard as a football player, my dream can come true one day of being a Minnesota Golden Gopher. To me, that will be amazingly rewarding for me to coach a kid that I also coached at junior camp. That would be a real thrill.”
Rounding out the camps is an all-day high school passing tournament, which will be held Saturday (June 21).
All the campers received camp t-shirts, an autographed photo with Coach Brewster and the experience of learning and working out in the same environment that the Golden Gophers get to use on a daily basis.
“Coaching football on the grass is what it’s all about,” Brewster said. “Recruiting is part of what we do, all the administrative aspects are part of what I do. But getting out and coaching football and having the opportunity to go out and work with kids is why I’m in this business. I really enjoyed the NFL, but one of the reasons I left the National Football League to come back to college coaching is the interaction with kids.”
Brewster said the camp experience can be about more than just football, as well.
“Helping them become better men and better people is a great opportunity for me,” Brewster said. “You look at the wholeness of the opportunity we’re getting here not only to help them become better football players, but we have interaction with them about academics and life in general. Unfortunately, a lot of these kids don’t have fathers in their lives or they’ve gone through other tough circumstances. We can take a week and maybe help them with some things.
“Without question, getting out and coaching and working with these kids is so rewarding,” Brewster added. “To see the sheer excitement and joy that these kids have about the game of football, really makes it very special.”
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