North Kingstown Sports Camps: Flag Football

This summer's sports camp at North Kingstown may seem fairly run of the mill, with kids practicing sports like basketball and lacrosse. There's one choice that isn't so run of the mill: flag football.

John Horsman, the camp coordinator and football coach at the high school, has been running the camp for three years. Prior to this year it was just a football camp, but they changed it to flag football for this summer.

Eric Holtzman and Jack Zeramby, two former NKHS football players, help run the camp. They were both all league players during their high school careers.

One of the main goals of the camp is for the kids to have fun. "We try to mix in drills with the games," Horsman said, "We incorporate the drills into the games so they can apply them in game situations."

There are some conditioning and agility drills conducted throughout the week as well. At the end of the week, certain campers will be recognized and given awards for good participation throughout the week.

Horsman has been coaching football for 20 years. He coached at Salve Regina University for eight seasons and at Coventry, East Greenwich and Exeter West Greenwich High School. This season at North Kingstown will be his third as head coach.

There was a minor change to the camp this year. In years past the age range was six to 18 years old. This year the campers are all between six and 13 years old. "We wanted to focus more on the younger kids and build up some excitement for football," Horsman said, "I enjoy working with the younger kids."

The camp follows a certain format. Monday through Wednesday they teach skills and there are more drills than at the end of the week. On Thursday and Friday more games and scrimmages take place. "We focus on switching up on the games and activities," Skippers head football coach said, "We want the kids to have fun and not have everything be repetitive."