The 18th annual Nick Frankos and Mims-Manoa Football Camp will take place Monday through Wednesday at the Warren G. Harding athletic complex, giving youth players in the area a chance to be coached and learn from some of the best in the game.
Nick Frankos Jr. did say that the coaches who will be at the camp is not complete due to the NFL's offseason schedule.
"We'll have (former Harding and Penn State player) Deryck Toles, (former Indianapolis Colts defensive line coach) John Teerlinck and the Harding football staff," Frankos said. "We're not sure other than that due to the OTAs (Organized Team Activities)."
Frankos said that he doesn't have an estimate of how many players are expected to participate at the camp.
"As much as we possibly can. It's touch and go right at the moment due to minicamps," he said. "We usually get around 150 to 200 kids. Korey Stringer, Dan "Boom" Herron, Mario Manningham, Carl Diggs, Sidney Glover, LeShun Daniels all attended the camp as kids. Going back 18 years, that's quite a thing."
The campers are divided into two groups: grades 4-8 and 9-12. Check-in is from 8:15-8:30 a.m. on Monday with the camp starting at 9. Walk-ups are welcome. Frankos said the two groups will be learning different things.
"The 4-8 grade group is all skills. The 9-12 grades are 7 on 7, more of a camp structure," he said. "The younger kids do skills, because who knows what a kid in fifth grade will do when he's an eighth grader. They work on blocking tackling. The older kids it's like a minicamp for them. We try to help them make good decisions and good choices."
Proceeds from the camp go to help fund the Harding and John F. Kennedy athletic programs. Frankos was asked how the camp was first started.
"A good friend of mine Timmy Manoa and Dominick "Mims" Massary were huge supporters of my father in youth sports," he said. "When Timmy playing for the Browns we decided to have a football camp for the kids in this area. He passed away four months before the first camp started. It's a great thing for the community and kids. A lot of athletes and coaches come in and talk and work with the kids."
