TAMPA- The University of South Florida will be hosting a non-traditional football camp when the Bulls bring the Youth Impact Program to the USF campus June 29-July 24.

The Youth Impact Program (YIP) is designed to intertwine football, academics, and life skills components for boys in grades six through eight. This program will give many local young men the opportunity to learn and play with community role models, as well as participate in some fundamental academic skill development. 

USF joins three other universities in partnership with YIP.  “We understand that the University of Southern California and Tulane have developed a great partnership with the Youth Impact Program and are excited to join the fold, along with Rice,” said USF Director of Athletics Doug Woolard. “This a fantastic opportunity for USF staff and student-athletes to provide one-on-one mentorship and outreach, while having a positive impact on the greater Tampa Bay community.”
 
USF has partnered with the Hillsborough County School District to select six schools to participate in the YIP.  All 120 applicants are invited to campus to participate in this four-week camp that will be run by Justin Miller, Assistant Athletics Director of Academics and Student-Athlete Development, Larry Antonucci, Assistant Athletics Director of Football Operations and JR Haworth.  Three Hillsborough county teachers, Rodney Sharpe, Joel Jiroski, and Trey Hicks, and former USF tutor Paige Batcher will be in charge of the academic aspect of this program.

Eleven current and former USF student-athletes are volunteering during the YIP, including Jessie Hester, Delbert Alvarado, Nate Allen, George Selvie, Dontavia Bogan, Shantia Grace, Tom Markey, Jordan McGillis, Angelique Waller, Stephanie Augustavo and Jesus Verdejo. Kris Stubbs, a former football player from Duke University, will also join the volunteer effort.

Miller plans to have each of the football players assigned to a group of students, accompanied by three other student-athletes.

“The USF student-athletes will act as mentors to these young men by helping in the classroom, keeping the students on track, and assisting on the field at football practice each day,” said Miller. “The football student-athletes will take on a large role in the football curriculum, the other athletes are there for moral support and to show the kids that they can achieve success.” 

Each day will start in the life science building on the campus of USF. The program provides each student with a lunch that will be donated by On The Mark Catering, and the boys will attend a life skills lesson taught by Miller. Each day will end in a football classroom to learn the fundamentals of the game, followed by daily practices run by USF coaches and football players.

This camp is free to all participants; the costs associated with YIP are covered by a grant from the NFL.