Yreka Miners to host new football mini camp this week

The inaugural Yreka High football  mini camp is set to get underway this week.

The  three-day camp begins on Tuesday at the upper practice fields at the high school.

Besides Yreka High, Etna High is also taking part in the non-contact camp.

Before this year, Yreka normally took part in the Gold Beach football camp in June on the Oregon Coast.

This year, there is a new state law in California that prohibits full contact football practices in the off-season and limits full contact practice time during the season to 90 minutes per day.

 While Gold Beach offered a non-contact camp for schools from California,  Yreka High head varsity football coach Orlyn Culp has said it was decided it would not be worth the fairly high cost to head to the camp. 

Because of this, the camp in Yreka was started to give players a chance to take part in a summer camp before fall football practices begin in August.

Below, Culp answers questions  about the new camp.

Orlyn, can you tell me a bit about the camp?

The Yreka Football Mini-Camp will be held at the upper practice fields on the campus of Yreka High School (above the JV baseball field) on July 21, 22, 23.  Each session will begin at 4:30 p.m. and ends around 7:30 pm.  The camp is open for incoming 9th graders through 12th graders from attending schools.  Contact your coach or Orlyn Culp at oculp@yuhsd.net for interested participants.  Cost is $50.

How will the camp be run?

The camp will be divided into three sessions.  There will be an offensive session, a defensive session, and a competitive interaction session with the schools involved.

What is the purpose of the camp? And, what do you hope to accomplish?

This summer is the first time high schools in California may not have live contact at summer team camps.  Athletes may go to as many live individual camps as they choose, but they may not have live contact with their teams.  So, the purpose of the camp is to give players an opportunity to work with their coaches and their teammates in order to become prepared for when the live contact practices are set to begin in August.

With the new rules in place, what are a few of the key differences compared to before?

The primary rule change has to do with "game simulation" or live contact.  Teams are not  allowed to participate in live contact drills during the off-season, as they once were.

Why is having this camp so vital for your team?

The opportunity for teammates to practice together is an invaluable learning experience.

Are you hopeful this will become an annual event for the Yreka High FB program?

No, not really. What I'm hoping is the state will change their definition of "allowable summer activities" and we'll be allowed to return to the Gold Beach Team Camp.