West Limestone Wildcats head football coach Shelby Davis and West Limestone High School hosted their second annual youth football camp Saturday morning at James Kennemer Stadium.

After not being able to have a camp last year due to COVID-19 concerns and moving the camp from July to May this year, Davis has noticed an increase in participation.

“It’s just a good opportunity for us to kind of see what’s coming and get them fired up about football,” he said. “We had about 20 kids come out the first time we did this, and today we have around 50.”

The camp was moved to May from the original start date in July because, according to Davis, it’s difficult to wrangle up everybody. He also appreciated not having to deal with as much extreme heat.

The youth football camp not only provides an opportunity for area youth to learn the fundamentals of football, it also gives an opportunity for former players to come back. In the case of North Alabama redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Drew Beddingfield, it was an easy decision.

“We didn’t have this when I was a kid, so when Coach Davis brought this up, I was all for it,” Beddingfield said. “Anything I’m able to do to come back and help where I grew up I’m willing to do.”

Former Wildcat football standout Reed Blankenship, a December 2020 graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and a safety for the Blue Raiders football team, also came back to make a difference.

“I got to do something for my hometown. You got to know where you’re from all the time,” Blankenship said. “I like hanging out with these kids. I like teaching them a lot of stuff. I just want to be that role model.”

Blankenship ranks eighth all-time in total tackles with 309 for MTSU.

For Davis, it’s all about having fun with the game of football, and he knows that it all starts with building a foundation.

“If we want to build a tradition here, (it starts with) those kids sitting in the stands Friday night and get to see our guys running out of the tunnel,” he said. “It’s just fun, man. It gets these kids excited.”