Manteno hosts first Tackling Disabilities football camp

After a couple of years of helping out with the annual Tackling Disabilities Football Camp in Watseka, Manteno football assistant coach Anthony Engelman knew he wanted to set up a camp of his own.

After discussing the prospect of adding another camp with Watseka head coach Max Fransen, as well as gathering the support of others in the Manteno community, Engelman was able to put on the first Manteno edition of the Tackling Disabilities camp June 12.

“Going to Max’s camp the past few years and just seeing how much fun everybody has, from players to coaches and the kids that attend the camp, I was like, ‘This is something special I want to bring to the Manteno program,’” Engelman said. “I feel like it’s an easy way to give back.”

Fransen, who will host the camp in Watseka on July 26, said he was excited when Engelman approached him with the idea for a camp in Manteno.

“Last year he asked me if he could host one, to which I couldn’t say yes fast enough,” Fransen said. “I helped him with logistics and explained how I ran our camp in Watseka.”

The free camp provided an opportunity for young athletes with disabilities to spend a bit of their afternoon having fun and participating in football-related games and activities. It was a more relaxed atmosphere, with the campers spending their time at whichever activities they enjoyed the most.

“One boy wanted to kick field goals the whole time, so he kicked his field goals the whole time,” Engelman said. “The fan-favorite of the kids was we have a tackling mat, and we had our high school boys stand in front of the tackling mat and [the campers] got to knock down our high schools boys. A lot of kids did not want to leave that station.”

Engelman said it was nice to see the members of the high school team give back to their community at the camp. Individual players were paired off with campers and guided them through the the various stations, giving them tips and helping them through the games.

“I told them beforehand, ‘These kids unfortunately don’t get the opportunity to play high school football, and we take that for granted sometimes, but your job for this hour camp is to make this the most fun hour of their lives,’” Engelman said. “The boys were excited. Just seeing when kids had success in the drills, the excitement from our team, and the cheering and the camaraderie, it was really special to see.”

In order to make an event like this a success, plenty of support was provided by people from the Manteno High School athletic and academic communities.

Superintendent Lisa Harrod and special education director Erin Ruff put together goodie bags for all the campers, while local insurance agent and business owner Joel Gesky provided free T-shirts. Manteno head coach RJ Haines lent his support and helped get players on the varsity team organized to volunteer for the camp.

“Just so many people helped make this successful,” Engelman said. “We have a lot of ideas already for next year on how to make it even bigger and better.”