Every year when the Irish football team takes the field on a cool, crisp autumn night, fans come out in droves to see the boys play. While much of the fan section is made up of students, parents and relatives, many of the fans cheering on Irish include young kids who fell in love with Cathedral football at the summer camp.

With Covid-19 restrictions loosening for this upcoming summer, Camp Cathedral football will be able to house the numerous amounts of campers who show up during the summer to learn more about football and get a chance to see what it’s like on the Hill. After last year’s pandemic caused the camps to have fewer numbers, current and future Irish players and coaches alike look forward to the experience.

Despite the restrictions that came with last summer, Head Coach Mr. Bill Peebles ’88 said, “We felt fortunate to have it, and it went really well,” He added that this year there are no outdoor restrictions on numbers, “so it’s nice to get as many kids on our campus as possible.”

Parents want to find a way to give their kids some fun during the summer, as well as gain some extra and much valued free time themselves, Peebles noted. The camp, which Peebles and Assistant Coach Mr. Adam Barth will run, is actually split into what Peebles called “four different football camps — we have a pee wee camp, first through fourth grade; then we have a middle school camp, which is fifth through eighth grade; and then we have a specific camp for quarterbacks and a specific camp for linemen,” Peebles added.

The hope as always is to get kids up on the Hill to experience Irish football and have fun, but also to learn a sliver about what life at Cathedral is like. With new CDC regulations likely allowing for full numbers this year, and the extra step being put in such as the entire football coaching staff being vaccinated, according to Peebles, Camp Cathedral football is geared up for this summer.

For young kids, one of the best things about Camp Cathedral is getting to work with and learn from actual high school level students, athletes, teachers and coaches. Starting offensive lineman Cooper Koers, a current junior, said he looks forward to helping out with the camp this summer. He said, “It’s not only fun for the kids, but it’s fun for the players to get to know the kids and play football with them.”

Like many current football players, Koers attended the camps from 2012 to 2017, an experience that he said he loved because of how he was able to get to know people who would become his future coaches and teammates and because of how the experience helped him learn about high school football concepts and Cathedral as a whole.

While Peebles has coached at Cathedral for only three years, he said he looks forward to the next few summers of Camp Cathedral, cultivating memories of younger players who just might grow up to be his future players. The time at Camp Cathedral is one of the best ways to interact with the adults and students of the school, according to Peebles.

“Get here and experience Cathedral,” Peebles said. “That’s what Camp Cathedral is all about.”

The dates for this summer’s football camp are July 16 to July 22 from 9 to 10:30 a.m.; middle school camp, July 16 to July 22 from 10:30 a.m. to noon; and lineman camp and quarterback camp, July 26 to July 29 from 8 t0 10 a.m. To register for the camp, access the Camp Cathedral section of the school website at this link.