By George Mahl

LAPLACE – St. Joan of Arc Catholic School students got a chance this week to know how it feels to practice like a National Football League player as the New Orleans Saints and Gatorade sponsored a Junior Training Camp.

“This type of program gives students an outlet to avoid trouble,” said Richard Sinera, a youth football coach at St. Joan of Arc.

The players practiced quarterback drills, receiving drills, and defensive back drills for about two hours. Several kids on hand said they enjoy playing tackle football as compared to touch football.

“I don’t like to play touch football. I like to make pancake blocks and big pass plays,” said fifth-grader Jonathan Arnoult.

First-grader Dylan Dunn added, “I enjoy the hard-hitting action that tackle football has.”

“This is cool because I get to practice like the pros,” fourth-grader Joshua Matherne said.

The receiver drills had players block dummies, run around cones, and then catch the ball. The defensive back drills made players run backwards and side to side to make like they are covering a receiver.

The camp has been around since 1988, according to Saints Youth Director Brad Mancuso.

“These kids are getting a first-hand experience of what it is like to practice as an NFL player,” Mancuso said.

Sinera said the camp was likely to be the closest most of the kids would get to participating in an actual NFL game.

” We have to realize that it is highly unlikely that these kids will not be playing football at the highest level,” Sinera said. “Some will play high school football and some will play college football. Our goal here is to help kids understand they need to know more than just football in order to make it in the real world.”

Unfortuantly for the students, none of the Saints players were on hand due to a scheduling conflict.

“I think the players that were supposed to come had a speaking engagement on life skills that ran longer than expected,” said Mancuso.

Dusty Westfo, who works in marketing and promotions department with the Saints, said he looks forward to everytime they go to local schools.

“I think the kids can have fun and get better at the same time. At these camps we stress team moral, leadership, and responsibility. Also, just because the chances are slim that they’ll make an NFL team doesn’t mean they can’t still be involved in some way,” Westfo said.