With two players in attendance, one Charger was named Defensive MVP
The United States Marine Corps Sports Leadership Academy held their annual Free Community Clinic late last month, a football camp where enlisted Marines and coaches train local players while also aiming to instill participants with intangible qualities that will make them Built to Lead in every aspect of life.
Strawberry Crest saw a pair of their players in attendance, with wide receiver/defensive back Steve Parkmond II and defensive lineman/fullback Rodney Addison taking on the challenge.
While football camps are nothing new to high school players, Crest’s representatives spoke about the emphasis on leadership and development off the field from the unique, USMC-driven camp.
“It was fun, it was a good opportunity to get better,” Parkmond said. “You don’t have that many chances in the summer other than 7-on-7 or some workouts to go against players that aren’t at your school, to workout and show your talents to college coaches. And they teach you more than you might expect to learn at a camp there, it’s about more than football at the Marine camp. They teach you about life, respect, more about being a man, I think it helps a lot because football isn’t forever. As much as people want it to be, its not forever. A lot of coaches will tell you that, like Coach [Phillip] Prior says, it’s not about the next four years, it’s about the next 40. There’s a whole life after and you can’t only focus on football.”
Addison echoed Parkmond’s praise of the camp’s ability to both help players sharpen their skills on the field while also taking in valuable life lessons, but additionally, Addison was named the camp’s Defensive MVP after the long session in the Florida sun.
“It was good,” Addison said. “It just shows how much my work has paid off over my years at Crest, putting in all that work on the field and in the weight room.”
The USMC Sports Leadership Academy is in its seventh year with over 160 clinics in six different sports conducted, including lacrosse, soccer, basketball, football, volleyball and wrestling. The Academy offers free one-day sports clinics to different cities each yer, including 47 total clinics in 2023 alone. At each event, Marines are integrated into the day and interact with the athletes through four leadership development sessions, a physical training session, a team building session, and offer overall motivation throughout the day, along with staff of coaches that help develop players’ sport-specific abilities on the field. For more information on the USCM Sports Leadership Academy, visit www.usmcsports.com.
