WAYNESVILLE— The questions came quickly, and seemingly from nowhere.
“Did you guys beat the Redskins?”
“Yeah, we beat them.”
“The Vikings?”
“Yeah, I think we beat them, too.”
“How many Super Bowls have you played in?”
“None yet. I was a year too late.”
Some questions were asked five times, and some made no sense, but Indianapolis Colts TE Gijon Robinson answered all of them.
During break times at the 1st Annual Gijon Robinson Waynesville Youth Football Camp on Friday, he shook hands with campers and fielded whatever questions they had.
“Have you ever kicked a field goal?”
He chuckled.
“No, I play tight end.”
The former Waynesville star is back in town this weekend for the Gijon Robinson Football Camp, which is taking place at Slaughter Field. The Waynesville Youth Football League (WYFL) organized and is running the camp with help from the Waynesville High School football coaching staff.
Robinson said he was happy to be involved as the camp’s main sponsor, even though he didn’t organize it much himself.
“Everybody else sort of put the ideas together and asked me to sponsor,” he said. “And I was very happy to do it.
“It’s cool to come back, see everybody and see the cool things people are doing for the community.”
It’s the first camp of its kind in the area, according to WYFL president Jay Schofield.
“It’s a big step,” he said. “We want to get this camp established yearly for all of our kids to come here, instead of having to go all the way to St. Louis or somewhere to find good coaching during the summertime.”
Before camp began on Friday afternoon, Robinson told the campers to be humble and enjoy themselves.
“I just want you guys to come here and pay attention,” he said. “Listen to what these guys have to say, because they’ll be your future coaches someday.”
One of those coaches, WHS head coach Rick Vernon, said that he was glad to have Robinson come back.
“We’re all very excited to have Gijon back here,” Vernon said.
He also gave a speech to the campers, emphasizing “doing things the right way.”
“It seems like all you see on ESPN these days are those few thugs in the NFL doing the wrong things, “ he said. “You very seldom hear about guys doing the right thing. But there are guys like Gijon in the NFL who are doing great things, and we’re pleased to have him as a member of this community helping us out here like this.”
After introductory speeches, about 50 campers worked on basic speed and agility drills.
Schofield said that Friday was a light day, in terms of what the campers would be working on. The football-specific drills begin today.
“It will be more intense [on Saturday],” Schofield said. “[Friday] was just about getting all the basics. On Saturday we’ll work on specific defensive and offensive drills and better fundamentals. That’s when we’ll start teaching the kids more football.”
Camp will continue until Sunday, when things conclude with a touch football championship and an official NFL Punt, Pass and Kick Contest.
Vernon said his staff, along with the WHS football team, will run things today, working on defensive drills in the morning and offensive drills in the afternoon.
He said that it’s important for the kids to learn the basic steps now, because the drills won’t change as they move up the ranks.
“Whatever level you’re at, all drills are the same,” he said. “Coaches don’t create too many new ones. Most people don’t realize that Gijon will be doing these exact same things when he reports to training camp in Indianapolis in two weeks, although obviously they’re all at a higher level.”
After the campers has their heights and weights recorded and ran through the non-football-specific drills on Friday, they got to listen to another guest speaker, former Waynesville quarterback Lyle Cox.
Cox, now a sophomore on the Missouri State football team, was a member of the 2007 WHS state championship team. Like Robinson, he was more than happy to return to talk to the campers and help out.
“It’s always a good time to come back and show your community support,” he said. “I see this program growing a lot; starting kids out a young age is really going to help out the program. This camp is a really good thing for everyone.”
After day one ended, Robinson signed autographs and fielded more queries from campers.
They seemed to enjoy themselves— especially meeting NFL player.
“It was cool to have Lyle Cox and Gijon here, and also to have all the high school players who will be coming tomorrow,” said camper JJ Schofield after camp ended Friday.
“It was cool, Gijon signed my shoes,” said Charles McNeal, another camper. “Then I asked him if he had a mansion. If he does, I told him to go onto “MTV Cribs” because I’m going to look for him.”
Well, does he have one?
“He told me to come back and ask him in three years.”
Jay Schofield said he expects more campers today— a few who pre-registered didn’t show up Friday night.
“But [Friday] was a good day,” he said. “We had a lot of kids show up and had a lot of kids just having a good time.”
Those interested can still sign up, he said.
Camp begins at 9 a.m. and runs until 5 p.m. today, but volunteers will be there at 8 a.m.
Visit www.wyfootball.org for more information.
- —
