Repetition goes hand in hand with success.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright June 2012
Saint Ignatius senior quarterback Mike LaManna said it was good to get the reps in and he and Wildcats junior wide receiver Jack Hyland echoed the same sentiment about how great it is to be tutored by so many exceptional coaches.
And it didn't hurt that Monday afternoon's opening day of the prestigious Camp of Champions took place on a beautiful afternoon at Saint Ignatius' Wasmer Field. The humidity was non existent and the sky had an almost blue-gray tinge to it. Are you ready for some high school football?
Well over 100 student athletes in grades 9 through 12 were in a gridiron state of mind as they took full advantage of the who's who coaching staff that annually presents what is an elite quarterback and receiver camp. This marks the second consecutive year that the camp is being held on the campus of the record 11-time Ohio Division I state champions. The camp resumes on Tuesday (1 p.m.-4 p.m.) and wraps up on Wednesday (1-4 ).
When asked what impressed him about some of the coaches, LaManna pointed to Hall of Famer Joe Perella, a coaching legend on the high school and college levels, and a graduate of legendary Cathedral Latin School, and said: "He's a very energetic man."
LaManna also paid an extremely high compliment to Saint Ignatius' nationally acclaimed head coach Chuck Kyle '69 and Wildcats veteran offensive coordinator Nick Restifo when he said: "Pretty much everything we did at this camp today we do every day in practice (at Saint Ignatius). So it was great for us to get the extra work in and get the steps down."
Hyland emphasized that the benefit for him is learning everything he can about his position from a "big-time show" of coaches. Coach Kyle and another area coaching legend - John Gibbons - did just that on Monday afternoon, as the two veterans got the message home on how vital the proper footwork and stance are to a successful receiver.
From Saint Ignatius, Strongsville, Lakewood, Berea, Avon Lake and Elyria Catholic to the West, Euclid, Gilmour Academy, Villa Angela-St. Joseph, St. Peter Chanel and Lake Catholic to the East, and Orange and Central Catholic in between, the camp features a very diverse group of schools.
And the same can be said for the coaching staff.
Getting in what he described as his three-day fix by being part of the Camp of Champions coaching staff is former Saint Ignatius quarterback and current St. Edward High School President Jim Kubacki. Also on the Camp of Champions staff is St. Edward receivers coach and newly named head baseball coach Pete Ducic.
BIG JOHN IN THE HOUSE: Taking in Monday's opening day of the Camp of Champions was John McCallister of the highly respected McCallister Scouting Report. John visited with several of the players, including Hyland, LaManna and Wildcats junior safety/running back Dameon Willis Jr., and, displaying his versatility, took photos of some of the drills.
GONE CAMPING: Saint Ignatius' promising junior outside linebacker Kyle Berger just returned from a four-day camp at the University of Michigan and a one-day camp at the University of Notre Dame.
"The Michigan camp was more like a technique school, so we did a lot of drills and stuff like that," Berger said. ''The Notre Dame camp was like a combine thing, where we ran a 40 (-yard dash), a vertical and a shuttle. Then it was two hours of drills and 7-on-7. We learned a lot about Notre Dame's defense."
Berger emphasized that the Notre Dame camp featured many players the Fighting Irish have already recruited.