Football University camp wraps up

Football University’s Top Gun Showcase wrapped up Sunday at Paradise Coast Sports Complex and Event Center.

But events like this look very different in the middle of a global pandemic.

“It feels weird, it just feels weird,” said sixth-grader and camper Lucas Carr.

There are normal staples of team sports that aren’t allowed anymore. “They said you cannot do no boom (fist bump) you can’t do boom (handshake) and you can’t do those jumps because in these times it’s different,” said Jaden Phillips, a fifth-grader attending the Top Gun Showcase.

Players were told specifically that social distancing would be enforced.

Anthony Barb, an eighth-grade player said, “If we got too close to each other in line, they would tell us to like scoot back.”

Even the parents attending were required to social distance. “I felt pretty good about it you know a lot of the parents were distanced on the sideline,” said John Carr, a parent in attendance.

All of these guidelines were put in place to make sure that everyone was kept safe. But for some, it wasn’t easy to remember.

“I was trying to at some point but I kind of forgot sometimes,” said Lucas Carr.

But luckily, the coaches and organizers were understanding and made sure to remind everyone of the protocols. “You have to continually tell them what to do…so I think that’ll always be an issue when you’re deal with kids in general,” said FBU President Steve Quinn.

FBU said they wanted to make sure parents signed a COVID-19 waiver stating that been with all the precautions, there would still be a risk of getting coronavirus.

For some parents, that risk was well worth it. “I think it’s well worth the reward to get out here and keep our kids active,” said Carr.

Quinn also said he doesn’t regret putting on his camp amid the pandemic because his focus was on the players and the aspects of the camp that he could control.