CAMDEN — By PATRIC FLANNIGAN
Sports editor
The fourth annual Camden All-Star Skills and Development Football Camp was rescheduled to July 20 due to rain on its original date that was June 28.
The camp will began with registration at 9.a.m at Ivra Clark Park and end at 1 p.m.
This year the camp will be hosted by former Green Bay Packer MD Jennings and is for children grades 2nd-8th. Free admission and food will be available.
Camp organizer and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Vincent Thrower explained the importance of the camp.
“We are trying to just make it bigger,” Thrower said. “This year, it is free. It’s about doing something for our kids and guiding them in the right direction.”
Thrower, a native of Camden, and played football for the Harmony Grove Hornets and college football for the Arkansas State Red Wolves as an offensive tackle. He is now a coach for the Camden Panthers Pee Wee football team and the founder of Thrower Cleaning Services.
Thrower started the camp in 2016 because he noticed that student athletes and their families always had to travel to bigger cities to attend NFL camps and he didn’t see a reason why there couldn’t be any NFL camps held in Camden.
Since then, the event has continued to grow. Thrower emphasized the importance of camps and getting visibility, citing his own story. He said he was recognized by recruiters when he attended a football camp at Ouachita Baptist University - which led to him playing football at Arkansas State.
The camp is held in honor of Jasiah K. Thrower.
This is the first time for the event to be held at Ivra Clark Park. It has been held at Coleman Stadium and Cardinals Stadium in the past. There is a multitude of NFL and College football players that are expected to attend this year’s camp.