Camp helps develop skills and character

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

canfield

Standing near midfield at the Canfield High football stadium, Shawn Haywood took a shotgun snap, backpedaled and launched a perfect 50-yard bomb into the left corner of the end zone, hitting his receiver perfectly in stride.

That kind of arm strength is something you can’t teach.

Haywood, who will be a senior quarterback at East High this fall, spent this week in Canfield working on everything else, from his footwork to his release to the way he carries himself on and off the field.

“They teach you a lot about character,” said Haywood, one of 225 area high school football players at this week’s High School Player Development camp, sponsored by the NFL and the National Guard. “How to carry yourself when people are around and how to have a good mindset on what you’re going to do.

“I’ve learned a lot.”

Haywood was one of 30 players from the camp selected to play in a regional tournament June 26 in Cleveland.

The players will be split up into two 15-member teams and compete in a 7-on-7 competition with players from four other regional sites in Ohio.

The Browns’ rookie draft picks and free agents will attend the event.

“It’ll be a great experience to play in Cleveland Stadium because I’ve never played there before,” said Haywood, who attends a half-dozen camps every summer. “This will be my first national tournament, and just to play in that environment is great.”

Camp directors will select 12 players from the Cleveland regional to compete in a national 7-on-7 tournament to be held later this summer at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

This is the first year the camp has been held in Youngstown and, like the Cleveland and Akron camps, the NFL is hoping attendance will grow next summer. The camp is free for athletes, with area high school coaches serving as camp instructors.

LaLisa Anthony, who serves a regional director for the NFL’s junior player development, said they consider 150 players or more to be a success for the first year and expects even bigger things next year.

Haywood was one of six East players selected for the Cleveland regional, joining James Williams, Mike Thomas, Todd Mitchell and Birch Franklin. Other players selected were Bryce Jackson, Blake Jackson, Conor Loze and Rayshawn Clark of Canfield; Mineral Ridge’s Mike Dominic and Ryan Porter; Leetonia’s Devan Miller and Lance Tullis; Brookfield’s Denny Sulick, Joe Kirila, Jake Sydlowski, Brandon Mosora, Ryan Mosora and Jeremy Quinlan; Western Reserve’s Tom Benyo, Ed Newhouse, Riley Sheptock, John Rosati and Jeff Clegg; Sebring’s Corey Garcia and Dakota Wagner; and Lisbon’s Cody Helman, Josh Cook, Jake Terry, Mike Rhome and Drew Sweeney.

For more details, visit nflyouthpd.com.