NFL's Free 'Character Development' Camp This Weekend

The NFL has its share of characters—both shady and colorful—but its heart is in the right place. The National Football League's highly-regarded High School Player Development program is coming to the west coast this weekend.

Trabuco Hills High is partnering with the HSPD to host its character-development focused football camp on June 2-3.

The camp is free, and open to student who are entereing grades 9 through 12 in the fall.

It's based on character development, life skills and football fundamentals. Each participant receives a free planner with information regarding concussion awareness, NCAA eligibility, social media consciousness, time management tips, and numerous other pertinent topics. In addition to discussing relevant off-field issues, the camp offers a structured, college-style practice that the University of Vanderbilt put together that focuses on basic football essentials.

“After seeing this program being run out in Massachusetts, and the unique experience and resources it provides its participants, I knew we had to figure out a way to get this program to Orange County,” said Garrett Gray, a Trabuco Hills assistant coach who is the site manager for the HSPD camp. “We are very excited to host this event here at Trabuco Hills and we hope to make it an annual event.”

The National Guard has partnered with the NFL to help develop the HSPD program from its original inception in 2001.  Originally, this initiative started in New York City with just four camp sites, and with the support from the National Guard, has continued to grow until this year where it expects to have about 200 locations in almost all 50 states. 

Each player who participates in the program is eligible to potentially compete in the NFL’s HSPD National 7-on-7 Tournament, where each NFL franchise is represented by local high school players to play against teams from all over the country.  Participants of the Orange County HSPD site would be able to compete against players from all over Southern California to represent the San Diego Chargers and earn an all-expense paid trip for the National Tournament in Indianapolis this summer.

“This program provides student-athletes with great resources to help them develop and grow both on and off the field at no expense,” said HSPD Regional Director Eloy Ledesma.  “The NFL and the National Guard understand that not every participant will go on to become a professional football player—but they are committed to build tighter-knit neighborhoods by empowering youth to go on and become doctors, lawyers, soldiers, teachers and community members because of the skills they learned in this camp.” 

Anyone interested in the camp should contact Garrett Gray at 949-280-7234 or email him at graygarrett@svusd.org.  For more information about the NFL’s HSPD program, go to its website at nflhspd.com.