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Sound Mind Sound Body Football Camp Will bring College Coaches, Pro’s and Region’s top prospects to Southfield High on June 14-15
The Adidas Sound Mind Sound Body camp returns to Southfield (Mich.) High for the second consecutive year June 14-15. Some of the state of Michigan’s best high school football talent will be on hand, as well as players from Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and as far away as Florida and Georgia.
Organized by the Lifting As We Climb Foundation, the two day event is not like any other camp. It offers athletes the opportunity to receive coaching as well as life experience training, in addition to facilitating exposure to programs that can possibility lead to a scholarship offer.
"There are two distinct differences that makes the Sound Mind Sound Body Camp different from others," said event director Curtis Blackwell. "The camp will feature life skills, chalk talk, and athletic work on the field, so those three components make our camp different from any other camp around here. At the camp you’ll see the players doing HIV awareness, STD awareness, NCAA Clearinghouse sessions, and the players will do game film study with college coaches."
Participants will gain maximum exposure at the camp by being able to learn from and compete in front of multiple college coaches. Michigan head coach Brady Hoke, Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer, and Wisconsin’s Gary Andersen are all expected to be in attendance. There will be over 200 college coaches doing all of the instructions at the camp, including 15 college head coaches, and even former Michigan standout and current Buffalo Bills assistant Tyrone Wheatley.
"The emphasis of the sound mind portion is going to be Brady Hoke and Mark Dantonio collaborating as instate rivals," said Blackwell. "They’re going to emphasize player safety, and concussion awareness. The Michigan coaching staff will do a tackling circuit at the camp, showing the young guys how to tackle properly. Head injuries are the number one issue on all levels, so that’s something we wanted to address with the SMSB platform."
Coaching staffs from instate schools Eastern Michigan,Western Michigan and Central Michigan will be attendance. Several other Division 1 schools including Bowling Green, Kent State, Toledo, Illinois, Iowa, Northwestern,Morgan State and many Division 2 schools are also expected to be on hand. The Great Lakes State will be well represented at the camp with players from all over the state attending from the class of 2014. Cass Tech cornerback and Ohio State commit Damon Webb, and Detroit Loyola defensive end Malik McDowell will headline the event. Southfield’s Lawrence Marshall (Michigan), Rochester Adams’ Matt Sokol (Michigan State), and Dakota’s David Basirico (Central Michigan) are just a few of the already committed players expected to compete.
Players coming to improve their stock will include Detroit King’s Avonte Maddox and Jalen Embry, and Clarkston’s Tim Cason and David Beedle. Several talented class of 2015 players including Cass Tech’s Jayru Campbell and Mike Weber, Saginaw Heritage’s Brian Cole, Detroit King’s Tyriq Thompson, and Southfield’s Ray Buford are also expected campers. The future of Michigan high school football is bright with 2016s Desmond Fitzpatrick of Farmington Hills Harrison, Nate Boleware of Detroit East English Village and Martell Pettaway of St.Clair Shores Southlake planning to attend. 2017 linebacker Josh Ross and younger brother of Michigan sophomore linebacker James Ross could also attend the camp.
The event will be hosted by current Denver Bronco Kevin Vickerson. Vickerson is a home grown talent from Detroit King, and played collegiately at Michigan State. The Detroit Lions rookie draft picks will kick off the camp with a SMSB Symposium on Thursday, where the campers will have an opportunity to speak with the newest Detroit Lions. Participants can visit LiftingAsWeClimb.com to register.
