Life Skills camp ends with final scrimmage and awards ceremony

Rochester, NY - Changing the Community’s fifth annual Life Skills Football Training Camp came to a close yesterday. This was the first year that elementary school students were included in the camp, and the boys showed great improvement and an eagerness to learn through the duration of the two week camp. D’Sean Kelly and Jamarie Johnson received the youth division defensive and offensive MVP awards respectively, while Kadeem Riley garnered Most Improved Youth honors.

The high school level enjoyed a vast array of new, young talent and was a very competitive division. The final scrimmage was decided by a narrow margin, with the offense prevailing by a score of 33 – 28. The game was a back and forth battle, and while the defense collected 9 interceptions, the offense took the lead at the very end, led by back to back touchdown drives by Bishop Kearney transfer Todd Larocca, and 5th grade quarterback Tyler Szalkowski. Jahmel Brumfield and Shane Noble led the defense with 2 interceptions a piece.

This was one of the most productive years for the life skills portion. One of the first supporters of the camp and former NFL football player, Tony Jordan, opened up the camp with tips for success and words of motivation. Ginger Cox-Scissum conducted a workshop on the NCAA compliance and NCAA Clearinghouse standards. Mrs. Scissum is an RCSD administrator, former educator, school counselor, and the mother of former CTC athlete Chauncey Scissum, a sophomore football player on a full scholarship at Syracuse University. Other notable speakers included a 17 year veteran of the Rochester Police Department, who spoke with the young men about how to deal with law enforcement interactions and ways to be proactive in avoiding such incidents.