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Over 100 youth of all ages participated

On July 15, Tiger Pride Youth Football Camp opened and served 113 student athletes from the Albert Lea area.

The camp was hosted by the Tiger Football Program and the Tiger Football Booster Club.

The theme for the camp this year was “Just keep playin.’”

The camp was divided into three sessions. The first session was for elementary athletes in grades 3-5. It focused on basic football skills and making football fun. The elementary camp also had a camp punt, pass and kick competition.

Twenty-seven students participated in this part of the camp. They especially enjoyed playing “ultimate football.”

The second session was for athletes in grades 6-8. This part of camp had 42 athletes learning basic football skills, punt pass and kick, basic football schemes and “ultimate football.”

The high school portion of camp served 44 athletes and focused on football fundamentals and incorporating offensive and defensive schemes for this year’s upcoming season.

All of the players who attended camp worked hard and look to defend the Gus this fall.

Coaches at this year’s camp included members of the Tiger football staff and included junior high coaches Justin Holmes, Adam Semple, Max Irvine and Isaiah Peterson. The high school staff that worked the camp included Max Jeffrey, Allen Hendriks, Graden Anderson, Cole Janssen, special guest, Iowa Hall of Fame coach Rich Sherman and head coach Paul Dunn.

The Tiger football program would like to thank the following sponsors who helped to make the camp a success: Green Mill, Hy-Vee, The Albert Lea Grizzlies, State Farm Insurance -Dave Klatt Agency, Jodie Distad Performance Horses, NASCAR, Inc., Wuerflein Motors, and Cole Janssen Ferrier Services, LLC. Their tremendous support of Tiger football is greatly appreciated, according to a press release.

The community is invited to come out and show their Tiger Pride as the Tigers open their season at St. Peter at 7 p.m. Aug. 30 in St. Peter. The home opener will be the Tackle Cancer game against New Ulm Public on Sept. 6 at Jim Gustafson Field.

Dunn said effort of the athletes in camp was tremendous. Young and old alike worked hard and made tremendous progress. The professionalism of the coaches, the support of the sponsors and community and the attitude of the athletes made this camp a success.

Tiger Football Camp 2nd Annual Punt, Pass and Kick Competition
Sixty-nine area youth competed in a punt, pass and kick competition as part of Tiger Football Camp 2024 July 15-17 . The young athletes were divided by grade level and were allowed two attempts at each test. Tiger Football is proud to announce the winners of this year’s competition. The awards will be handed out Sept. 6 at halftime vs. New Ulm Public.

The following are the winners with their cumulative distances.

Third grade
1st – Carson Overland, 167 ft.
2nd – Oliver Hall, 129 ft.
3rd – Brayden Kent, 130 ft.

Fourth grade
1st – Tristen Finkbeiner, 182 ft.
2nd – Caliber Hinz-Henry, 161 ft.
3rd – Ryder Ehrich, 152 ft.

Fifth grade
1st – Abe Irvine, 241 ft.
2nd – Triton Dixon, 184 ft.
3rd – Andrew Zoller, 160 ft.

Sixth grade
1st – Griffin Reed, 233 ft.
2nd – Ledger Haase, 219 ft.
3rd – Carsten Godeke, 197 ft.

Seventh grade
1st – Joseph Kuiters, 316 ft.
2nd – Angel Avila, 299 ft.
3rd – Dane Johnson, 293 ft.

Eighth grade
1st – Allex McDaniel, 320 ft.
2nd – Channing Erickson, 280 ft.
3rd – Titus Thorson, 279 ft.