Players get down to basics at football camp

About 500 Department of Defense Dependents Schools-Europe students proved they’re ready for some football as they gathered at Katterbach Kaserne in Ansbach to get back to the gridiron basics during the European Football Camp Aug. 14 to 17.

***image1***A precursor to the start of the high school football season, the camp brought players from places such as Germany, England, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands together for camaraderie, instruction and getting a head start on the competition, said Marcus George, head coach of the Division III reigning champion Ansbach Cougars.

“The kids are working hard on the basics, work habits and stuff like that,” said Coach George, primary organizer of the event. “It’s in everyone’s best interest to come to this camp and start creating some unity, some ownership and good work ethics for themselves and their teams—and that is what they are doing.”

***image2***More than 50 coaches and 100 administrators from 21 DODDS-E schools ran the camp that housed, fed, managed and taught the players.
Overall, it was a lot of football crammed into a short time, said Wiesbaden senior quarterback Joe Jansen.

“I’ve been to a lot of camps in other places before and they kind of focus more on fun and give you more leisure time,” Jansen said. “Here, they push us hard. People are coming out of the practices tired and burnt—as they should be.”