MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE — When Lys Rubens Blanc took over as the head coach of the Columbia High School football team last year, he wanted to foster love of the sport within the youth in the Maplewood and South Orange communities.
In fact, before he even officially coached his first game for the Cougars, he organized a youth football camp in late July, something that was never done before.
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Blanc wants the camp to be an annual tradition. For the second year in a row, the camp came back, with a strong turnout on Saturday evening, July 25, at Underhill Sports Complex.
The boys and girls from grades 1-8, wearing camp T-shirts, got to hone their skills through various drills in a fun atmosphere, coached by CHS football players and CHS girls flag football players, during the two-and-a-half hour, one-day camp.
“It’s establishing football within the community, establishing a place where everybody can come out and learn and just play,” said Blanc, prior to the start of the camp. “It’s just a fun day for the community because they’ve never had this before. So now, it’s just one day every year, everybody in the community comes out and we’ll coach them up.”
Adding more hope for the youth of the community is the establishment of a middle-school football team this fall. The team will comprise seventh- and eighth-graders who will compete against towns in Union County. It’s the first time that Maplewood and South Orange have had a feeder program in a long time.
Blanc is elated about the middle-school program.
“I’m very excited because now we’re establishing a feeder program that they didn’t have for over a decade,” he said. “So now, I don’t have to teach kids football when they get to high school and have them compete in the season against the powershouses in Group 5 in northern New Jersey… So now they can feel like they can compete.”
This summer, the CHS football team has been working hard, participating in 7-on-7 events at West Orange HS, Rutgers University and Franklin HS, looking to build on last year’s three-win season.
“The numbers have been great,” said Blanc about the team participation. “They worked harder this year than they did last year because now they understand the process. I think the players understand, step by step, what we have to do to be successful. We’re establishing consistency.”
The Cougars will begin official practice on Aug. 10 and open the season against Hillside on Aug. 28 at home.
Blanc was an assistant coach at Hillside before coming over to CHS.
Photos by Joe Ragozzino
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