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University of Minnesota Athletics
Blog: Scrimmage, Youth Day For Gophers Saturday
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
The University of Minnesota football team held its final scrimmage in preparation for the 2009 Spring Game Saturday at the indoor facility of the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex. The Gophers worked through a mostly situational scrimmage and ran 107 plays Saturday afternoon.
Head coach Tim Brewster had good things to say about his team following the scrimmage, praising their effort in all three phases of the game. Brewster said the defense is still a bit ahead of the offense at this point, but pointed out that the offense has really been making strides over the past week or so.
However, Brewster was even more excited about the Brew’s Crew Youth Clinic that he and the Gophers hosted Saturday after their scrimmage. Youth from all over the area in grades 2-8 were invited to go through drills with the Gopher players, get a tour of the football facilities, take pictures with their favorite players and get autographs. (Update - 6:37 p.m.) Speaking of photos, there is now a photo album linked at the top of this blog.
More than 400 youngsters showed up for the Youth Day, which Brewster plans to make an annual event.
“I am just so excited by the turnout of youth here,” Brewster said. “We’re really planting the seeds in these young people’s minds that they want to grow up and be Golden Gophers. This is a really great opportunity for our players. These young people really look up to our players. Our guys are really excited about it, too. This is a great opportunity for the Gophers to get involved in the community.”
It was a gorgeous day on the outdoor field at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex and it was clear everyone was enjoying the weather and the Youth Day activities. The event lasted roughly an hour. By the end of that time, it wasn’t clear who had a better time -- the kids or the Gophers.
“This is what we live for,” defensive lineman Garrett Brown said. “A lot of these kids look up to us so much and something as little as a handshake or talking with them means so much. This is something that really touches me.”
Running back Duane Bennett shared similar sentiments.
“It’s always great to come out and support kids,” Bennett said. “It is great any time we can have kids out here and share some things with them. Even the littlest things that we tell them are things they can take with them in the future.”
The Gophers have two more practices on the docket before next week’s Spring Game. Brewster will put his charges through their paces Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. The Spring Game will be held at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday (April 25) at O’Shaughnessy Stadium on the campus of the University of St. Thomas.
-UM-
