March 25, 2021 at 8:25 a.m.
Camp Randall meets Rhinelander
Gridiron Club brings Badgers, other college athletes to Hodag Dome for football camp
Camp Randall meets Rhinelander
Roughly 140 athletes from Rhinelander and around the Northwoods turned out last weekend for a pair of football camps put on by the Hodag Gridiron Club. That included a camp for offensive and defensive linemen that featured nine college athletes, including three starters for the Wisconsin Badgers from their Duke's Mayo Bowl victory last December.
Roughly 90 linemen showed up at the Hodag Dome for the Hawgs & Dawgs camp including the college athletes as instructors. Approximately 50 more skill position players turned out for the Surface-to-Air perimeter camp that followed.
"This is an unbelievable experience and opportunity for these kids, and us, to be here during this time of the year when there's normally snow on the ground and you can't get outside, to focus on football, be here together and get better at our craft," Hodag football coach Aaron Kraemer said in a video posted to the team's Facebook account.
The camp had been in the works for a couple of months after the club was able to get Badgers right tackle Tyler Beach for the camp. As word got out and people started talking, things began to snowball.
"It's kind of funny how things start out and we're going to get Tyler Beach up and it turns out we're going to get five Badgers and four guys from UW-La Crosse and area coaches all teaming up to pull together and run a group camp with a bunch of different teams here and a bunch of kids from all over the area," said RHS football offensive line coach Paul Ellenbecker.
Sometimes, it's as much about who you know as it is what you know. Beach is a Grafton native and went to Port Washington High School, which happens to be the same high school where current School District of Rhinelander superintendent Eric Burke was principal before moving to the Hodag city.
Ellenbecker talked with Burke, who put him in touch with Beach, and things began to fall in place from there.
"Mr. Burke used to be my principal in high school and he asked if I could come out and I'm more than happy too because I love giving back and stuff," Beach said.
"After I talked with Tyler it's like, 'Can we get other Badgers to come with,'" Ellenbecker said. "And he's like, 'Yeah, I think I could get a few guys.'"
Beach delivered, bringing with him left guard Josh Seltzner and fellow offensive lineman Blake Smithback. He also brought defensive linemen Rodas Johnson and Keeanu Benton.
Not only that, RHS alum Connor Lund, now at UW-La Crosse, brought three of his teammates and several area high school coaches also turned out to help instruct the campers.
Kraemer estimated players from 10 of 11 different high schools were in attendance at the camp, with one camper coming from as far as Siren in the northwest corner of the state.
"I think the impact of a camp like this is huge," Seltzner said. "There's a willingness to get better at football up here. I think bringing different teams from different areas can help get this area better and more interested in football, develop them and make them pretty good."
For much of the morning the campers rotated between six stations and the event ended with some games at the end of the day.
"I really thought it went well," Smithback said. "I thought a lot of guys were able to take a lot of coaching points. Kids were really receptive to coaching, tried to put whatever the point was into action on the next rep. I felt the kids had a lot of fun too."
The campers weren't the only ones learning.
"It's good to bring all the coaches together too so we can all work together and have fun. We're getting better in the process," Ellenbecker said.
As it turned out, the campers could have gone outside on a nearly 60-degree March day in the Northwoods, but the group mainly stayed inside the climate-controlled comfort of the Hodag Dome - a facility that impressed even the Division I football players in attendance.
"The facilities are nicer than anything I've seen around," Beach said. "We're definitely excited to get out here, work some drills and work some kids out."
Added Benton, "My first impression of this place was quite awesome. I wish I had this in high school and it will be a great opportunity for the Rhinelander students."
The lineman camp was split into two, two-hour sessions with a one-hour lunch break in between. The skill position camp that followed lasted approximately three hours and was led by the coaching staff of the Manitowoc County Mariners semi-pro football team.
Both Ellenbecker and Kraemer said they plan for the camps to become a yearly event.
"For a first-year camp the flow's been awesome and the technique being taught's been really good, really positive and upbeat. There are a lot of good things being done today and I'm super excited about," Ellenbecker said. "I think we're going to get a good name from this camp. I think it's going to grow bigger if we want it to."
Information from the Hodag Football Facebook page was used in this report.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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