50 football hopefuls turn out for Mattura lessons

By Jon Moffett

jmoffett@vindy.com

Youngstown

While many area youngsters were at home watching Saturday morning cartoons, others found a more productive way to kick off their weekends.

About 50 Youngstown youths participated in the second Chris Mattura Football Clinic in a drizzling rain at the site of the former Rayen School. The program focused on individual instruction at offensive and defensive positions.

Mattura, a former defensive assistant in the National Football League, and a handful of other coaches gave fifth-through-eighth graders some one-on-one attention to technique, stretching and fundamentals.

“What we did was we went to as many of the middle and elementary schools in the county as we could and passed out brochures,” Mattua said in his thick, New York accent. “There’s a lot of kids here from the city, and a lot of the coaches here either were or are city coaches.”

Among those helping were Campbell Memorial High football coach Mickey Sikora and jump-stretch guru Dick Hartzell.

Mattura, now an educator in New York, used to be a college recruiter and worked the Mahoning Valley. He hosted the clinic in 2009, but was unable to do so last year due to illness.

The players received about an hour each at an offensive and defensive position, and finished the day with special-team drills.

By receiving personal attention, the players can better understand what is expected of them, Mattura said.

“I’m a big believer on individual instruction,” he said. “And then that carries over to group work, and team work.

“Most kids start playing at a very young age in a flag league or a touch-football league,” Mattura said. “Those programs are understaffed.

“And when they’re understaffed, usually one guy is coaching three or four different positions at a time, and it’s very difficult for those kids to get the individual instruction they need.”

Junior Blair, 13, said the one-on-one approach has really helped him focus on his technique and how to apply it to the team concept.

“It’s good to learn the individual drills first, because that might be the position you play in high school,” Blair said. “And it’s good to learn the other ones too, because if you play a different position, you still know about the other one.”

Blair, who spent most of his day at quarterback, said the players are taught how to use their strength, agility and speed to maximize their talent.

He said he was appreciative for Mattura and the other coaches to spend time with them.

“I just love the sport of football,” Blair said. “And I love the fact that they’re coming out to help us get better prepared for high school and hopefully college.”

George Hill, 13, said he liked learning how to maximise his speed as a wide receiver or running back. But really, anything to do with football is good with him.

“The passion for football runs in my family,” Hill said.

Mattura said while the camp is under the guise of football, it’s just as much about life skills as sport.

He said learning discipline, focus and responsibility are all things that should translate over to the real world.

“Athletics should never be a destination. It should be a ticket,” Mattura said. “You should be able to use your athletic ability, if you have it, and your grades to earn a scholarship that will pay for your education.”

Which, he said, is much more important than football.

“They can never take your education away from you,” Mattura said. “But football can be taken away form you through injury, and obviously through age.”

Mattura said the reason he brings the camp to the city is because he recruited heavily out of the area when he worked for Fordham and Hofstra universities. He said the value of giving back is great, especially to areas that really need attention.

“It’s real easy to give something to the kid who has everything, because sometimes they’re brought up to think they’re entitled,” Mattura said. “This is a socioeconomically impoverished community where the parents are working or are not at home. And the kids grow up real fast, so I think these coaches out here are sometimes their role models.”