Future on Display

“That’s the future out there,” said Ben Hammer, Lely's new head coach, while watching 137 K through eighth-grade students taking part in a free, three-day Lely youth football camp, July 10-12 at Trojan Stadium. It was a highly organized, high-energy camp. Hammer, who has only been on the job for three months, has lofty goals for the Lely football program, and he knows it all starts at the lower levels.

Hammer’s not shy about talking about his goals for the program.

“We have very, very lofty goals,” Hammer said as he oversaw a football field filled with a variety of drill stations, all being run with snappy, high-energy precision. “We want to win state championships, to win district titles, to put kids in college, to have players come back, married with kids and have successful jobs and being productive members of the community. And we are going to go full bore after those expectations."

There was a lot of positive coaching going on at the camp. No swearing. Lots of smiles. Kids connecting with coaches. The players looked polished as they attacked each drill with gusto. When the whistle blew signaling the players to move to the next station, they ran like the wind to get to the next drill. 

"The biggest thing is just that the kids enjoy themselves and come out and have fun,” Hammer said, "we've got boys, girls, kindergarten through eighth grade. Our high school staff and our high school players are out here working camp. It's awesome to have all these kids and players out here.”

Hammer said there’s a lot of talent in the Lely school district. He was impressed with what he saw at the camp.

"There's great athletes all over the place,” he said, "some good size, a good mix between all the different grade levels. So we're excited about that.”

Hammer is instilling belief in the young players.  Belief that they can reach those lofty goals he has set for them.

“We always talk about, ‘Why not us?'  The Tampa schools do it,” he said, "the IMGs do it. We eventually want to play a national game here while we compete for state championships and win district titles."

Hammer is proud of the coaching staff he’s assembled. They all worked the entire camp without pay.

“The assistants are the biggest part of it,” he said, “and you have to have great players, too. And we've got some great ones out here."

Hammer’s coaching staff consists of Brian Hodge, Ross Baker, Mark Sanon, Lens Edouard, Jermaine Washington, Anthony Lord, Beth Coleman, and Culmer St. Jean. Hammer said he is looking to add a few more assistants.

It was important for Hammer that the players didn’t have to pay to attend the camp. That meant the adults had to make some things happen.

“We just kind of hit the streets,” he said, "and looked for businesses and individuals that wanted to sponsor the camp. And it's important for it to be free. We've got six title sponsors and 15 individual sponsors. I don't think we had anybody tell us no.”

As the camp came to a close, Hammer carefully organized the campers and coaches for a team picture. He didn’t leave anything to chance.  He told the kids how to behave for the picture.

 “We’ve got to make sure that we represent our community and our program and our families and our school really well,” he said.

Hammer said there is still a lot of work to be done.

"We've got light years to go,” he said. "The kids are working hard. Our coaches are doing a great job. The community is doing an awesome job supporting us. But we do have a long way to go.”

The team has been competing in seven-on-seven’s all summer long. Fall practice is set to start on July 31.