Parents find different ways to keep their children entertained during the summer months when they are out of school.

Porters Chapel Academy hosted a youth football camp Friday. The children participated in drills teaching them the fundamentals of football. PCA head coach Wayne Lynch tries to get as many kids from the community to come out and learn the different positions of the game.

“We’re trying to give them a little bit of an idea of what they go through and give them some competition, and we’ll award some medals at the end,” Lynch said.

The kids participated in NFL combine type drills as well. They ran a 40-yard-dash, long jumped and did some lightweight bench press. The younger kids were assisted in lifting 35 pounds while the older kids were also assisted in lifting 45 pounds.

Lynch said by exposing the children to the different aspects of the field it gives those who will start peewee football an idea of what position they want to play.

“Basically we’re just letting them enjoy themselves. We have 15 to 20 minutes with them at each station,” Lynch said. “In that little short time we’re trying to give them the basic fundamentals of footwork and how to hold the ball. Today is more basic than anything.”

Colby Rushing, a coach for PCA, said the children’s favorite part of the day was the combine drills. The combine drills are when the kids were most competitive, particularly the bench press.

Whenever a child would set a record, it was looking to be outdone by the next. Maddox Lynch set the record number of assisted presses with 56.

Rushing said he loves doing camps like these and it is a good learning experience for them. The children enjoyed doing something the varsity football players do since they look up to them.

“When they come to the games and they see the high school players, they want to be like them. They play on the sidelines and say they want to be like someone on the high school team,” Rushing said. “When they see them out here they see what they do and want to emulate what they do.”

To beat the heat coaches gave kids as many breaks as they can to get water and popsicles. Despite the temperature, the kids enjoyed themselves and took well to the instructions of parents and other.

Stacey Sykes is in his first year as a coach of PCA and brought his child out to the camp. Sykes put him in the camp because it’s a good learning experience. His son will be heading into the sixth grade and was nervous about coming out to the camp.

“At their age there’s a lot of things that goes through their mind. A sense of failing and how do you deal with failure, being around other peers and how he was going to be accepted,” Sykes said.

Having fun, playing with others, how to be respectful and competitive are things Sykes wanted his son to learn outside of fundamentals. Sykes said our whole life we are competing for something and this type of atmosphere brings out the competitive nature in children.

“These kids are too young to be one position players. It’s important for them to get an overall education of each position of the game,” Sykes said.

Sykes wants his son to continue playing football but won’t force they game onto him, he will let his son make his own decision.