WS Chronicle

The Twin City Football Clinic just concluded its second camp of the year.  This summer was a first for Twin City as they also served as a combine sight for the middle school Shrine Bowl game.

Rodney McKoy, Twin City clinic organizer, says he thought the clinic went well considering this was the first year the clinic has served as a combine sight.  McKoy says there were plenty of things that could have gone wrong but did not, so that was a blessing.

“I was happy to see the turnout with this many kids and this was good to give the kids of Winston-Salem an opportunity to experience something dealing with the Shrine Bowl,” said McKoy.

The North Carolina/South Carolina Youth Shrine Bowl began two years ago by Rodney Brewington and Marcus Wall as a fundraiser for the Shriners Hospital in Greenville, S.C.  The game will pit the best middle school football players from each state against one another in a game this Dec. 29.

“The hospitals mission is to help kids that are born with birth defects or suffer from severe burns and they treat the kids regardless of their ability to pay,” said Brewington.  “When we heard about that, we got behind that movement and felt like it was something we had to do.

“This game is identical to the high school game and we try to make it a quality experience,” he continued. 

Brewington is familiar with the Triad and McKoy, as he is the former head coach for Ben L. Smith High School in Greensboro.  He also spent time at Simon G. Atkins High School as well. 

“I knew coach McKoy from the coaching ranks and when we got involved with the Youth Shrine Bowl, we heard about how his camps have been growing and growing, so it was a no-brainer to come out and be a part of what he was doing,” he said.

McKoy says the idea for having the camp serve as a combine sight came from a parent.  Unbeknown to McKoy, the parent had already reached out to the representatives of the Shrine Bowl prior to even speaking with him.  Once McKoy had the opportunity to speak with the Shrine Bowl reps. he thought it would be a great idea to bring the combine there.

Marcus Wall, athletic director for the Youth Shrine Bowl, says he and Brewington personally visit every combine sight to get a firsthand view of the talent pool available for the game. 

Wall and Brewington say this game is more than just football for them.  They feel blessed they have the opportunity to show kids how important it is to give back along with giving them tools to be successful on the field.

“To be able to not only give back, but to teach the youth how to give back is so important,” said Wall.  “It’s really like each one, teach one for the most part.”

“These young men do well in the classroom, they do well in their communities and they do well on the field and giving back is a part of that as well, so it’s just a phenomenal event we put on for them.”

McKoy says he is pleased with the growth of the clinic over the past three years.  The Shrine Bowl has also made his camp an annual combine sight for their game as well.  McKoy stated he would love to have some corporate sponsors in the future to allow the camp to become one of the premiere clinics in the Triad.