NOT FOUND: playmakers.jpgOn three hot summer days in July, Playmakers Mentoring Foundation, a national organization, based in Sacramento, put on a football camp for high school players. Although football skills were taught, the theme of the camp was character building.

Playmakers brought together high school football teams from all over the Sacramento area. Both public and private schools, all on one field. The atmosphere was charged with attitude and pride, mixed with muscle and energy, with 250 young men letting each other know they were tough. That however, was very short lived.

The boys were gathered on the field in a giant huddle. Founder, Executive Director, and former Oakland Raider, Greg Roeszler (Coach Roz), began his introduction. The purpose of Playmakers Mentoring Foundation is to train these young football players to be leaders, to work together as a team, not just individual players, emphasizing character traits such as integrity, academic excellence, commitment, accountability and respect for women. He created a picture of what a true sportsman acts like on and off the field. He called this being an “uncommon man”.

Former San Francisco 49er, Ted Popson then had a heart to heart talk about believing in your dreams and hope in the future, conveying that the only limits they face are the ones they place on themselves. Anyone can be great as long as they don’t allow circumstances or situations to bring them down.

Phil Ostroski, former San Francisco 49er, spoke on day two about putting academics first; to strive to do their best in school.
Day three featured Katie Freeman, a soccer player from Notre Dame, who spoke on the importance of treating a woman with respect. She leveled them on the how and why of treating a woman properly, and really drove it home by asking them how they would respond should their mothers be treated or talked to disrespectfully. She charged them to be “uncommon men.”

How the kids changed from the beginning of camp to the end was just a total transformation,” one mother exclaimed. “It was amazing!”

One player admitted that “In the beginning, we were all trying to prove something, and in the end, we were all working together to help each other.”

Another said that there was unity at the end of camp and that he learned that if you help another person then you get help from someone else and it just keeps going.

A parent of one of the players noticed a great change in her son on and off the field; “I see a maturity and caring for others that wasn’t there before”.

The proof that the camp achieved the goal of creating community came on the last day of camp. Three schools decided impromptu to hold a scrimmage game at a later date. on On August 21st, West Campus will host the event with Cristo Rey and Valley Christian Academy participating. The parents also got together and organized a family style BBQ for after the game. Now that’s community!

Playmakers are in their seventh year running football camps. They started out small and quietly, putting on no-cost camps for kids who couldn’t afford the costs of up to $400 per player. The idea was to establish the football camps so they could teach the kids mentorship and responsibility to the community in a “pay it forward” model. Coach Roz has assembled an excellent staff of volunteers that are great examples for the boys to follow.

The purpose of Playmakers is two-fold: To identify at risk kids, whether fatherless, or are from extreme low income areas and pair them up with a mentor and also to give older high school boys the opportunity to mentor younger boys. The mentors are part of “The Captains Club”, which gives them a chance to learn leadership and mentoring. Coach Roz conducts training sessions after the football camps to train the boys on character, academic excellence, taking a firm stance against drugs and alcohol, defining how to treat women and placing family and community service first. The boys are then paired up with a younger boys to mentor and go out into the community for service projects. Past projects have included a river bed clean up, garden planting, and church clean ups.

Playmakers Mentoring Foundation has grown over the past few years and expanded across the country. Coach Roz expressed his gratitude for the many businesses that sponsor Playmakers and help make the football camps possible. He said that without the many volunteers and businesses the camp would not be possible. He also extended an invitation to speak with any business interested in becoming a sponsor.

To receive information on Playmakers Mentoring Foundation or becoming a sponsor contact theplaymakers.org.

Remember August 21, 2010 Playmakers will be at West Campus for a scrimmage. Come and check it out.