The future Buckaroos and professional football player Jace Billingsley held a youth football camp in coordination with the Winnemucca Youth Football League (WYFL) on July 17-18 at Lowry High School.
On July 17, kids aged 8-10 attended and July 18 was for ages 11-13.
The cost of the camp was $10 and included a T-shirt. All proceeds went to the WYFL.
The camp was called “Up from the Mucc” and featured several local guest speakers as well as numerous drills designed to hone the young player’s skills.
Sixty kids attended the Tuesday session and an additional 50 came to the second session on Wednesday.
“I’m so grateful that we had so many people come out," Billingsley said about the camp. "The kids did amazing, working hard and having fun. It went better than I ever expected.”
Billingsley was a three-sport star at Lowry and won four consecutive individual state wrestling championships.
He averaged over 20 touchdowns a season in football and was was an undrafted rookie free agent out of Eastern Oregon University when he signed with the Detroit Lions in 2016.
"I came here to the camp to practice football and meet the NFL player," said camper Kaleb Koons.
During the mini-huddles between each activity campers got instruction and information from the coaches and Billingsley.
Each huddle was broken up with the chant “hard work.” Billingsley told the campers that there were three key points that would help them succeed in sports and in life.
1. Believe in yourself.
2. Love what you do.
3. Don’t be afraid to fail.
Camper Frank Davis was voted the “Camper of the Day” by the coaches and Billingsley after much discussion and debate amongst themselves.
Davis related his experiences at the camp on Wednesday saying, “I learned to work hard, never give up and follow your dreams. My favorite drill today was the catching drill because it taught me a lot.”
The Lions have four receivers returning in 2018 in Golden Tate, TJ Jones, Marvin Jones Jr. and Kenny Golladay.
Billingsley is one of eight other receivers on the roster hoping to make the 53 man squad.
“This is the first year this camp has been hosted, Jace is the reason we’re doing it this year," said WYFL President James Warner about the camp. "We are really appreciative of Jace coming out, helping the youth and everything that he does for our community.”
Detroit was 9-7 in 2017. They finished second in their division and missed the playoffs. The first day of training camp for the Lions is Friday.
Detroit’s preseason starts on Aug. 10 in Oakland against the Raiders.
The Lions' first regular-season game this year is at Ford Field in Detroit against the New York Jets on Monday Sept. 10, and ESPN will televise the game.
"It feels so good to come back here and help these kids out, :Billingsley said. "I appreciate all the help that we had from coaches, parents, my family and the people who spoke to the kids. It’s great to come from a community that has shown me support and have support back for the youth around here. It is pretty awesome to be a part of that.”
