By Ross Dunham
Media Relations Assistant
TEMPE, Ariz. – Children from all over the valley flocked to the Kajikawa Practice Fields on Arizona State University’s Tempe Campus to take part in the third annual ASU-American Youth Football Clinic on Saturday morning.
After a relatively long spring practice for the Sun Devil football team, the student-athletes took off their pads and welcomed the kids onto the field for the clinic, which was broken down into stations for the kids to hone different types of skills.
Despite the hot temperatures and lengthy, full-contact scrimmage beforehand, the Devils were nothing but smiles as the boys and girls flooded the practice fields.
“I just love their attitude,” Sun Devil Football Head Coach Todd Graham said of his players. “We are Sun Devils. And what Sun Devils do is they serve. Our players were out here practicing for three hours, and when they got done, it wasn’t like they had to do this. But they all did this with a great spirit and we have fun giving back to the community and teaching them a little bit about football.”
Glenn Robinson, one of the parents of a young camper, said the commitment the ASU program shows to the community is unquestionably growing the support for the Sun Devils around the Valley.
“I think it’s tremendously important,” Robinson said. “The administration doing something like this speaks volumes for their willingness to include the community in what they do. I think it’s really great and you’re really growing a nice fan base starting them really young with the kids.”
The clinic is a chance for the kids to be able to interact with some of their role models, and to understand how Sun Devils carry themselves on and off the field.
“Being a football player, especially at this level, we have so many kids that we don’t even know that look up to us,” freshman quarterback Brady White said. “Doing little events like this is big for them and it’s a lot of fun for us as well. It puts a smile on my face to see all these kids so excited, because I remember being in their shoes.”
After the camp came to an end, Coach Graham stood in front of the group of kids knelt before him, and their parents standing on the outskirts, and delivered a couple of tips on what it takes to be successful in not only football, but in life as well.
“If you want to be successful, always serve and be a giver,” Coach Graham said. “And then you have got to be willing to sacrifice with hard work…you have got to give respect – sometimes that’s hard to do. But if you want to be a Sun Devil, play college athletics, or be successful in whatever it is you want to do, you have to be willing to serve, be a giver, and sacrifice.”
Redshirt senior starting quarterback Mike Bercovici added to Coach Graham’s thoughts with some of his own.
“The football field doesn’t stop once you get off the field,” Bercovici said. “The football field is on campus, in your classroom, your professors, your moms, your dads, your sisters, your brothers and more. It’s so important that you take the respect on the football field to your life.”