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Montana State football helping area teams this summer

Posted at 11:07 PM, Jun 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-19 16:51:45-04

BOZEMAN — It’s summer time which can only mean one thing for football lovers — preseason camps.

High school football teams from all over the state and beyond corralled in Bozeman this week for the Eleven Man Blue and Gold Team Camp hosted by Montana State. The camp runs from Monday June 18th through Wednesday June 20th and is led by Head Coach Jeff Choate and his assistants.

The Bobcats assist in leading drills and scrimmages, along with each team’s high school coach. The camp also allows both the university and high school participants to grow in their experiences- with 14 teams and over 600 kids, this can be plentiful.

“It’s great trying to get these kids on campus and get around them and them get to know us and our staff. Football, it doesn’t matter what level, you’re still blocking and tackling so we are going through the fundamentals and so it’s a great opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from each other,” said MSU special teams coach B.J. Robertson. “Our four fundamentals are character, accountability, toughness, and stakes. So we talk to the kids a lot about what we think it takes to not only be good football players but good people. The game of football is going to end sometime but obviously the character education part of it will last for a lifetime.”

The camp also opens the eyes to many high schoolers about what it could be like to play at the next level. “The kind of dedication it takes for the players and how intense the coaches are, it was a good learning experience for me for sure,” said Fergus senior Tanner Trafton. “I would love to play here and play college ball for sure.”

Teams like the Butte Bulldogs and Bozeman Hawks attended the three day camp, offering the players a little taste of some of the matchups they will see in the fall.