Recently, Bad Axe schools hosted the “Back to the Roots” youth flag football camp. The camp is designed for youth across the Upper Thumb to learn and fine-tune their football skills.
Hatchets junior high football coach Robert Arnott is one of the leaders of the camp.
“No one person decides on anything,” he said. “We come together as a team, and that’s what we give to our kids. That’s teamwork. We all make decisions together.”
Some of the coaching staff includes Arnott, Chris Partaka, Grant Peeples, Robert Henline, Jeremy Siewert, and Bryant Orchard.
The Roots
Arnott said this is the first year for this youth organization, which began in mid-February.
“On Feb. 19, Chris Partaka came up to me and said, ‘Let’s get a youth football program going and keep it local.,'” he said. “He wanted to keep it in Bad Axe, instead of moving it out of the county. That’s what the fan-base wants.”
Arnott said the program had been around for five years before he and other coaches took over.
“A few individuals started it up and we had several teams around the area,” he said. “A bigger company came in, promising a better way. We weren’t seeing the results. The prices to participate were way up for every kid, too. We took it back. That’s why we call it, ‘Back to the Roots’.”
“We got the price for participation down to $50,” he added. “That gives a kid an actual football jersey with their name on it, and their number. That’s really what the kids care about. They’re playing with their friends, and they have a jersey with their name on their back.”
Arnott said that the $50 registration fee could be less in the future.
“We just started this up,” he said. “If there are families out there that are on a budget, we have people that will step in and pay the registration for them. There are no hidden fees with our registration, it’s $50 set. Several schools even offer to pay for their students, as long as they’re playing. North Huron did that, and there are smaller schools that have offered to do that as well.”
“That’s what ‘Back to the Roots’ football is all about,” he added. “We want to get every possible kid playing. Some kids can’t, because of family budgets. For that, we have registration waivers available and some donations have been made.”
Skills and Drills
At the recent camp held in Bad Axe, there were three distinct agility drills that kids participated in. The first was a 40-yard dash.
“Since we had to take it inside, it was just a 30-yard-dash,” Arnott said. “That’s the length of a basketball court. We put the athletes side-by-side to push each other. Steve VerBurg, Bad Axe’s new varsity head coach, ran the stopwatch for us, along with one of the Bad Axe football players. The kids were able to do that drill and see Bad Axe football stepping up to help out.”
The second was a flag-pulling drill, commonly used in flag football.
“We lined up six kids with belts on, several feet apart,” Arnott said. “We had their hands out of the way so the runner can go along and pull each flag. The purpose of this drill is to see how fast a kid can pull a flag from the right side of each person. If he misses it, he has to hurry, go back and pull the flag. Then, move on to the next person.”
“The player has to circle around each person on the right side, then the left side,” Arnott added. “This tests a player’s hand-eye coordination, stopping ability, and speed.”
The third drill had kids running certain routes in a wide-receiver drill. According to Arnott, this shows who can run the correct route, listen, and catch the ball.
“Grady Seltz, one of Bad Axe’s football players, helped out with this drill,” he said. “He threw the ball to the kids. We coaches tried to throw a couple passes, they were not on target. I’m glad Grady stepped up to help us. That’s why we coach, not play.”
Some of the short-term goals of the organization, according to Arnott, are to get the kids to push themselves in front of a crowd.
“We also want to get the kids and coaches accommodated with one another at a fast pace,” he said. “For the coaches, they want to see how the kids learn on the fly. The ultimate goal is to have fun with this, too.”
Goals of the Organization
For the long term, Arnott said one of the goals is to have kids from around the Upper Thumb interested in sports, and to play together as a team.
“We have kids from Ubly, Bad Axe, Harbor Beach, North Huron, Caseville, and smaller schools interested,” he said. “We want all our county teams to be equally competitive in the future, instead of one dominant team. We also hope to teach the kids how to work together as a team and listen to the coaches.”
“The coaches learn from the kids as well,” he added. “That way, our area teams will be dominant in the future. We want everyone to cheer each other on, too. As our athletes move up in age and grade, they already know teamwork. They know what it takes to be their best on and off the field. This makes better people for the world, too.”
Bad Axe varsity football coach Steve VerBurg said the number-one goal of the camp was to have a good time.
“Everyone had fun, that’s the key,” he said. “Have a good time and have some fun. It was cool to see all the kids there, as many as we had. To see them compete, run, catch and all the fundamental skills that kids need. I was supporting the youth coaches and helped run their combine that day. I helped any way I could.”
Arnott said another thing the camp teaches the kids is to never put down another player.
“We teach our players to congratulate each other and motivate each other,” he said. “Good play or bad. For those not interested in continuing to play football, they will still learn valuable life lessons. Treat everyone with respect and tell them they’re doing a great job.”
“I worked for some good and bad bosses over 14 years working in the Detroit area,” he added. “You learn from bad bosses; you learn from good bosses. You learn from good coaches; you learn from bad coaches.”
Lessons beyond Football
Arnott said another lesson the camp teaches is that kids and adults alike will make mistakes.
“It’s how we respond to that mistake that matters,” he said. “If we’re going to put somebody down, it will affect the whole team. You have to work as one unit. You’re a team. You’re all going to fail as a team or prosper as a team. How that passes on in life, you’ll do that in the job world, too.”
“Everyone will make a mistake in the job world,” he added. “Instead of ridiculing them for it, pick them up. What did we do wrong? How can we improve it? The same thing applies when somebody wins. You did a great job. Now, what made it a great job? How can we apply that everywhere else?”
In turn, Arnott said when you make mistakes, you have to forget about what happened in the past. Today is a new day. Start on it.
“That’s the attitude we’re bringing to the ‘Back to the Roots’ youth program,” he said. “It’s not about beating another team. It’s not about winning a championship. It’s about every kid out there getting an opportunity to try their best. Take this opportunity, and pass it on to the next generations, too. Sports and coaching numbers are going down. We’re trying to get that rejuvenated.”
VerBurg said a lesson kids can learn from the camp is hard work. The camp can also make football more popular for them.
“You have to apply hard work to every facet of your life,” he said. “Hopefully the kids learned that the harder they work, the more they will get out of things. For us coaches, the more opportunities you get for the kids to get a football in their hand, the more it will make football popular for the youth. It was a great event. It was a good day.”
Arnott said this camp can make kids prepared for more sports than football. It also can get future football coaches an opportunity to see the talent the Upper Thumb has.
“It gets the youth prepared,” he said. “Not everyone gets a trophy. It takes hard work to raise up. Without a solid team, there’s not a team.”
According to Arnott, the camp could also be a kid’s after-school getaway.
“A kid may have had a bad day at school, and they’ll get to hang out here,” he said. “They’ll get to meet and play football with new people. This will impact everyone’s life that’s involved now until the future. As long as we run this program, meeting new people, building that connection, growing up with each other and making friends, that’s what it’s about.”
“With us, as coaches, running this program is bringing our communities together,” he added. “We’ve played at several different Upper Thumb locations. We also have sponsors that came to us. This is impacting our local economy, giving money and keeping it here, locally. It will grow our community.”
VerBurg also said the kids learned about good sportsmanship when competing.
“I saw a lot of kids cheering each other on as they were getting after it,” he said. “That was always nice to see. That’s one of the bigger lessons. It was a good day. It was a lot of fun. It was a great day for Bad Axe football. I’m looking forward to more opportunities like that.”
More Information on the Camp
The camp is open to anyone from kindergarten through sixth grade. Those in kindergarten through second grade will be placed in the younger league. Those in third through sixth grade will be placed in the older league.
Arnott said he and the coaches want to allow every child in the Upper Thumb access to engage in a sport.
“We’ve shown the kids that it does not matter if you are a young team,” he said. “You compete with any team, as long as you believe in yourself. You work as a team. Our second graders have practice with the fifth graders, and the second graders are just as good. They had the speed, they have been coached very well, and my fifth graders feel they should be beating the second graders.”
“We went to triple-overtime against the team that won last year’s (youth league) championship,” he added. “The kids looked at it in a negative sense. I told them not to look at it that way. Look at what you’ve accomplished. They went up against a team that consisted of older kids. We hope that (this camp helps build) a lifelong love of the game, and something that’s passed on for generations to come.”
This past Saturday, April 23, the “Back to the Roots” youth football program held its first games of the season. Team Franklin Inn went 0-2 and Team S&S went 1-1 on the day.
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
