Camp readies kids for Punt, Pass, and Kick competition

FORT SILL, Okla.-- As part of Operation Live Well, Fort Sill Child, Youth and School Services will host a Punt, Pass and Kick camp July 23-26 culminating with a competition July 27 at 10 a.m. at Prichard Field.

The event is open to all boys and girls in the Fort Sill, Lawton and surrounding communities, ages 6-15. Parents are expected to stay the entire duration of the daily camp. Children with special needs will also be accommodated.

The camp, which runs July 23-26, begins at 5:30 p.m. daily on Prichard Field. Participants can compete in the main event without taking part in the camp activities, but they are highly encouraged to participate in the daily themed camp, said Kevin Cherilus, CYSS program operations specialist and the event coordinator. "The first day of the camp will focus on team building and all exercises and stations will be related to teams and team building," he said.

The next day will focus on healthy food.

"The youth will engage in activities that reflect the importance of nutrition and its effects on fitness and overall health," said Cherilus. "We are teaming up with Dairy Max, the sponsors of Fuel Up to Play 60, to offer the children a variety of healthy food items while enjoying the activities with a special guest."

The third day will offer PPKcampers a variety of fitness exercises to promote healthy living.

"The exercises are high energy and simple enough to be done at home," he said.

The theme for the fourth day will be the actual preparation for the punt, pass and kicking event July 27.

"We have decided to make this an experience that will ignite a healthy lifestyle for our youth, with hope to encourage healthy foods in their diets and promote fitness as a daily occurrence," said Cherilus. "We didn't want the children to come out one time and just toss and kick a ball around.

He hopes 100 children signup for the camp.

"Ideally 20 children in each age demographic (6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15) would be great," said Cherilus. "Physicals are not needed to participate.

"This ties directly into our community's Healthy Base Initiative by tackling the obesity aspect of Operation Live Well. We are striving to create promising practices in efforts to promote a healthy and resilient lifestyle for our children and youth by educating them on the importance of health, nutrition and fitness as a daily routine," he said. "Most importantly, we have to let them know they are not alone; we are in this together. They will engage in several activities while working in groups as a team."

PPK is an NFL initiative through their Play 60 program. Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation will host it this year with the intent to do it annually.

There is absolutely no cost to the participants.

"We want to ensure we capture all interested participants and not to exclude anyone based on cost," said Cherilus.

To sign up for the camp and competition, go to www.nflppk.com and check out local competitions. Participants can only enter one local Punt, Pass and Kick competition per calendar year.