More than two dozen of the hardest working and most unsung athletes in the Athens area gathered Monday evening at Larry McCoy Field for the Golden Eagles annual women’s football camp.

“It’s been a lot of fun for me and I’m having a good time, it’s probably been the most fun we’ve had at a camp,” Athens head varsity football coach Cody Gross said, “I think the ladies are having some fun as well. I see a whole lot of smiles out here, that’s for sure.”

Twenty-five mothers, daughters, wives and even some grandmothers participated in an array of lessons on the gridiron, getting an up close and personal look at what current Golden Eagle players have to go through on a near-daily basis.

“I really want for the ones who have their sons and grandsons currently playing, (to) get an insight on what all they really do for us,” Gross said. “Even just sitting there in the locker room going over the plays, they were blown away with how much the players have to know.”

The camp, which kicked off at 5:30 p.m. on July 24, started in the varsity football locker room at Athens Stadium. To begin the camp, Gross, along with his offensive and defensive coordinators, walked the group of women through all the little details that go into a single play call.

The ladies then hit the field — some literally — and took on different positional drills such as blocking, taking handoffs, running routes and, of course, tackling practice. Beth Patton, longtime Athens City Schools superintendent, was one of the eager campgoers who was happy to support Athens High School.

“I really just wanted to learn a little bit more about the game,” Patton said. “Even though I was in the band and I have two boys who played football, I still never really learned the game, so this has been really fun to learn how it all comes together.”

The misinformed stereotype of “dumb jocks” or stupid athletes has resonated, especially in football players, for years. Patton would go on to express how that stereotype is greatly exaggerated and without any true merit.

“Being out here, the thing that surprised me the most is how much you have to know and how much you have to memorize on each and every play,” Patton said. “There truly is a lot of thinking in the sport, and you really have to be smart and on top of your game to play it.”