The 53 children, ages 7 to 14, ran forward and backward. They sprinted to and from cones. They ran with the resistance of parachutes strapped to their backs.
They also ran with the eyes of Noel Devine, Quenton Washington and other local college football players watching them.
Devine, a North Fort Myers High School graduate and West Virginia University running back, and Washington, a fellow former Red Knight now playing cornerback for South Florida, put on the inaugural 239 Future All-Stars Football Camp on Saturday afternoon at Shady Oaks Community Center in Fort Myers.
"I wanted to come back to the community and help out the kids who look up to me,"
said Devine,
who added that he has been energized by the number of high-caliber local college athletes around him.
"It speaks for itself,"
said Devine, who is expected to be a starter for the Mountaineers this fall. "A lot of these kids can be where we are, too - if they focus on their schoolwork."
Former Cape Coral High stars Edward Gant, a wide receiver at North Alabama, and Jamal Rogers, a receiver at Miami of Ohio, also were on hand, along with Dunbar graduate Chris Singleton, a cornerback at Iowa State, and Ron Lillard, a Lehigh graduate and Rice linebacker.
"It's just fun to be out here,"
Washington said. "Hopefully, one day, they will be where we are and doing the same thing."
Washington, who redshirted as a freshman last season, hopes to break into South Florida's starting lineup now that fellow cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams have moved on to the NFL.
Rashad Washington, 12, hopes to follow his older brother's lead.
"He's going to be the best ever,"
Rashad, a sixth-grader, said of Quenton. "But I'm going to be better than him."
"I'm going to be the best ever, ever."
Scott Kilhefner, 38, teaches world history at North Fort Myers High. He asked his son Micah, 7, if he wanted to attend the free camp.
Micah said, "Yes."
"Devine's my favorite player,"
Micah said. "Because he's good."
That Devine also has been good with his son prompted Kilhefner to bring Micah there.
Scott Kilhefner said that after a week of depressing headlines - budget cuts, violent crime in nearby east Fort Myers, etc. - the camp uplifted him.
"I was having one of those self-pity moments,"
said Kilhefner, who is also the running backs coach at North. "It reminds me why I'm doing this - we do this for the kids."
"It makes me proud. I'm proud of Noel and Quenton. From when Micah was 4 or 5, Noel always has been so good with Micah. Noel would always play with him. Noel made such an impression on him."
The camp also made a solid impression on Lillard.
"It's awesome - anything you can do to help the community - that's what I try to do,"
Lillard said. "The kids, a lot of them grow up with the wrong role models. I want to try and change that."
