Future talent on display at youth football combine

The Elgin Wildcats got a glimpse of future talent Friday, May 19, when the football program hosted a youth combine for incoming second through eighth grade boys and girls.

Wildcats head coach Heath Clawson, his assistant coaches and many high school players were there at Wildcat Stadium prior to the Elgin varsity spring game to guide the kids through the combine drills.

“I saw some kids that enjoy competing,” Clawson said. “What I saw that really struck me was a lot of kids wanted to know their times. They wanted to know what their results were so they could put them in their memory banks, so they could work to get better. They came out here and had fun, got better and were competitive.”

Clawson and his staff began the evening with the younger kids doing proper stretching exercises and some conditioning before the start of the events. After stretching, the kids were divided into four separate groups based on grade level.

Rotating in stations clockwise at the stadium, the first event on the southeast end of the home sideline was the broad jump. Kids got to show off their athleticism by going from a standing position and jumping as far as they could. They would next go to the vertical jump station and put on display their ability to jump as high as possible.

The event that easily had the most smiles on the faces of kids, coaches and varsity players was the station with the 20-yard shuttle drill with cones. Young players competed against each other, and sometimes player showcased their acceleration as well as their ability to stop and quickly change direction.

“Pure speed,” was the motto at the 40-yard dash with the kids running in pairs starting from the goal line and sprinting towards players and coaches awaiting them with stopwatches.

Following a successful youth football combine, the kids were able to get snow cones outside the stadium before watching the varsity players suit up in full pads for the spring game.

A photo gallery from the youth football combine can be viewed online on the Elgin Courier page on Facebook.