In All Poly Football Camp, Coaches Come To See Local Players
The reality for major college football prospects is that it’s never too early to get noticed by recruiters.
In the case of Hawaii’s current prospects, the June 21-23 All Poly Camp at McKinley High School will bring the coaches to them. That’s a huge bonus for the local football community, since costs of travel are high for Hawaii players to attend summer camps.
Laie resident Brian Te’o and wife Ottilia know this firsthand. Their son, Manti, will be a senior at Notre Dame this fall. Before becoming the nation’s top prospect coming out of high school, however, Te’o already had been to the Mainland a few times via the prep camp route in between his football seasons at Punahou. Te’o was named a Capital One Academic All-American this past year and was a finalist for the Butkus Award in 2011, given annually to the nation’s best linebacker.
“We would spend thousands of dollars traveling to Utah and California attending football camps,” recalled Ottilia. “We did this for three summers; the goal was always to secure a scholarship so that his education would be paid for. Manti was very fortunate to have several scholarship offers. I look at the other athletes in Hawaii, and we want the same for them. I know there are several families that cannot afford to send their children to the Mainland for football camps; this is where All Poly can help.”
Added Brian, who began volunteering for All Poly four years ago: “Having gone through the process with our son, the costs can be pretty extensive. I used to fundraise to help, but there would only be enough money for me and my son to go. I thought about how we could give others the same benefit without them having to have all the expenses that we had. All Poly was the answer.”
The All Poly Camp is a three-day football camp that prepares an athlete for sports and for life by focusing the themes of Attitude, Academics and Athletics.
All Poly is a nonprofit organization based out of Bountiful, Utah, which also is doing camps in Utah and Texas. All Poly’s Hawaii camp will take place June 21-23 at McKinley. College coaches from the PAC 12, Big 12, MWC, Conference USA, WAC, Big Sky, Independents, Division II, DIII and junior colleges will be among the staff. Motivational speakers also will address campers, and academic workshops will be conducted to help student-athletes get acclimated to how it is at the college level. Another bonus is having their profiles posted on the All Poly Camp website, which will be accessible to college coaches.
McKinley also will host a Nike Sparq-sponsored free combine for campers and non-campers at 8 a.m. June 20.
The camp limits full contact until the final day to help players get re-acclimated to football. “We wean them back into it,” Brian said.
Camp fee is $175. Those who would like to sign up can visit allpolysports.com.
