Micah Hyde football camp set for early June

FOSTORIA — The Micah Hyde Football Camp is undergoing change this year, but one key ingredient remains intact.The event's namesake will enjoy it as much as any of the 300 youngsters scheduled to take part from 9 to 11 a.m. June 6 at Memorial Stadium in Fostoria."It's a fun day, man," said Hyde, an All-Ohio player at Fostoria High School who went on to have standout careers at the University of Iowa and in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills before retiring in 2024. "It's good to get out there with the kids and run around."This year marks the ninth edition of the free camp, which operates through Hyde's Fostoria-based Imagine for Youth Foundation, which has a mission "to help children achieve a healthy, active and educated life."While past camps sent 500 registrants entering grades 3 through 6 onto the game and practice fields that Hyde raced across while starring for the Redmen, this year's gathering will number 300, with third- and fourth-graders in one group and fourth- and fifth-graders in another. The youngsters will still be doing the same passing, throwing, catching and tackling drills as in the past, but the lower number of campers will allow Hyde and the other coaches to devote more time to engagement and instruction.Evolvement in the registration process played into the decision to reduce the enrollment, Hyde said."The demand for 500 was still there, especially for the younger kids, the third- and fourth-graders," he said in a phone interview from San Diego, where he resides with his wife, Amanda, son Micah Jr., and daughter Maverick. "But we saw with the older group, the fifth- and sixth-graders, the waiting list was kind of getting shorter and shorter every year. (The camp) is the beginning of June, so people have other obligations. Signups are in March, but when June rolls around, they have travel baseball or just other events that come up. And it usually happens with fifth- and sixth-graders."I don't want to say the numbers decreased, but people not showing up the day of, or something like that, has kind of been on our minds for a while. And, we were, like, 'You know, let's go down to 300. We can have it be a couple of hours that day and still do what we normally do.' And, we thought that we can give them more things when it comes to the gift bags."Also, the entire camp taking place at one time in the morning rather than being split into morning and afternoon sessions should bring extra verve to the proceedings, Hyde said."There will actually be 50 more kids on the field for that couple-of-hours window," he said. "But the early session always got the most energy because it's the beginning of the day and the coaches are eager and stuff like that. After lunchtime, when everybody gets a little food in their stomachs, it's like, 'Oh, gosh,' because people are getting tired. We wanted to make it so that it was just a couple of hours to help out, for the volunteers and the coaches, but we're still able to give the kids what they want and have it be high energy."Non-campers will be admitted at a $5 charge, which goes to the Imagine for Youth foundation to help with the camp. Food, drinks and merchandise will be available for purchase.Hyde said he credits the "continued help that we receive for this" for the camp having become a staple of the community."The kids always have a blast," he said. "... The kids are waiting for us to show up, they love to participate and they work hard. But it's the ongoing support of the adults who I only talk to on this day of the year — everybody knows when it's coming up and to show up and help out and all that stuff."I've always told people, 'I know it's my name on the camp, but it's really a Fostoria community event. I want it to be that because it brings everybody together. It's, obviously, for the kids, but it brings everybody together to come out and support. I'm always thankful, going back to Fostoria and seeing all the people who continue to help out."