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It is most athletes’ dreams to one day play at the highest level possible.
Taft High football players Aaron Kolb, Shaquil Gant, Adrian Howell and Daniel Watts got a taste of that next step recently when they attended a football camp at the practice fields of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“Pretty much one of a kind,” Gant said of the camp.
“It was an experience to see what the next level of sports is like,” said Kolb.
The day-long camp, which went from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., was broken up into different sections with each player taking part in a different specialty of the game.
Kolb took part in the quarterbacks group while Gant joined the linebackers. Howell was in the wide receivers section while Watts was part of the running backs group.
For Kolb and Howell this was not the first year they had attended the camp. For Kolb this was his third year doing it while Howell was attending the camp for the second year. Kolb found out about the camp around three to four years ago when his brother Loren attended the camp and has gone ever since.
Even though Howell had attended the camp before, none of the luster had disappeared.
“It was a really cool experience,” said Howell.
Each player learned different things from the camp.
Howell learned how to run better routes.
For Watts it was his cutting ability while Kolb learned about better overall accuracy.
“You have to work for everything,” said Watts.
“We need to step it up,” said Howell. “It was very humbling.”
Even though the camp was a great experience, there were tough aspects for each player.
In Kolb’s case, it was going up against older kids, while the toughest part for Howell was the one-on-one drills.
“It helped me get better overall, to compete with the better athletes.”
One of the challenging aspects for Gant was running through the tires. During the camp, the athletes ran the 40 with Gant getting a 4.9.
Besides the knowledge they picked up at the camp, the four Wildcat players got another treat. They got a chance to meet USC head coach Pete Carroll.
“He just told me to keep up the good work,” Carroll told Gant.
“It was nice that some of the coaches remember me from before,” said Kolb.
According to Rhonda Kolb, the USC coaches along with the help of several elite high school coaches ran the camp.
While the coaches were direct to the players according to Kolb, they were also personable with the players.
“They don’t set themselves above the kids,” said Rhonda Kolb.
The coaches weren’t the only Trojans the players got to meet.
Gant also met Trojan player Taylor Mays in the camp.
It is most athletes’ dreams to one day play at the highest level possible.
Taft High football players Aaron Kolb, Shaquil Gant, Adrian Howell and Daniel Watts got a taste of that next step recently when they attended a football camp at the practice fields of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“Pretty much one of a kind,” Gant said of the camp.
“It was an experience to see what the next level of sports is like,” said Kolb.
The day-long camp, which went from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., was broken up into different sections with each player taking part in a different specialty of the game.
Kolb took part in the quarterbacks group while Gant joined the linebackers. Howell was in the wide receivers section while Watts was part of the running backs group.
For Kolb and Howell this was not the first year they had attended the camp. For Kolb this was his third year doing it while Howell was attending the camp for the second year. Kolb found out about the camp around three to four years ago when his brother Loren attended the camp and has gone ever since.
Even though Howell had attended the camp before, none of the luster had disappeared.
“It was a really cool experience,” said Howell.
Each player learned different things from the camp.
Howell learned how to run better routes.
For Watts it was his cutting ability while Kolb learned about better overall accuracy.
“You have to work for everything,” said Watts.
“We need to step it up,” said Howell. “It was very humbling.”
Even though the camp was a great experience, there were tough aspects for each player.
In Kolb’s case, it was going up against older kids, while the toughest part for Howell was the one-on-one drills.
“It helped me get better overall, to compete with the better athletes.”
One of the challenging aspects for Gant was running through the tires. During the camp, the athletes ran the 40 with Gant getting a 4.9.
Besides the knowledge they picked up at the camp, the four Wildcat players got another treat. They got a chance to meet USC head coach Pete Carroll.
“He just told me to keep up the good work,” Carroll told Gant.
“It was nice that some of the coaches remember me from before,” said Kolb.
According to Rhonda Kolb, the USC coaches along with the help of several elite high school coaches ran the camp.
While the coaches were direct to the players according to Kolb, they were also personable with the players.
“They don’t set themselves above the kids,” said Rhonda Kolb.
The coaches weren’t the only Trojans the players got to meet.
Gant also met Trojan player Taylor Mays in the camp.
