East Orange football camp has tremendous turnout

By Joe Ragozzino
Sports editor
These are certainly great times for East Orange football.
Last fall, the East Orange Campus High School varsity football team, as the No. 7 seed in the eight-team field, advanced to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 playoff championship game at Giants Stadium.
Coming off that memorable 7-5 season, football fever returned at EOCHS last week during the seventh annual Football Mini Camp.
The turnout was by far the best in the history of the camp, as more than 300 players from grades 3 to high school showed up, showing their desire to learn and become a part of the Jaguar program.
To EOCHS head coach Marion Bell, such enthusiasm was delightful to see.
“The goal is to connect the community and the younger players to the high school,” said Bell, who founded the Mini Camp. “With the turnout, I can tell that the community is starting to get behind the program and the younger guys are starting to really understand what we are doing at Campus High School.”
The campers learned various aspects, such as the proper stance for linemen; how to carry the ball; how to switch the ball from one hand to another; and how to catch the ball depending on the pass.
Though the fundamentals were a big part of the camp, Bell and his staff stressed the importance of academics, bringing in councilman Ted Green and EOCHS principal Kelvin Harris as guest speakers to help relay that important message.
“Every chance we got, was to teach them that not only do we want you to be a great football player, but we want to instill in your head that you have to do your school work,” said Bell, who also was helped by coaches from the East Orange Rams and East Orange Junior Jaguars football programs.
Judging by the success of the camp, the EOCHS football program is as popular as ever, which bodes well for more outstanding seasons.
“The future looks bright,” said Bell. “We have a lot of young kids. We are going to be young. We have kids now that are interested in football. A couple of years ago, we were still actually recruiting (kids in the school). Now we have kids coming to the program and say, ‘coach I want to play.’ And that’s a good thing. Now, a kid that normally wouldn’t play is now willing to play and learn how to play the game. Hopefully, of the guys that are coming, we will get some diamonds in the rough. I think the future is very bright for East Orange football.”
Bell’s Jaguars will kick off preseason camp on Aug. 19. The Jaguars will have scrimmages at Rumson, along with St. Peter’s Prep, on Aug. 25, and Union and Scotch Plains at home on Aug. 28 at 11 a.m. The game scrimmage is Sept. 2 at Ridge.