Hyde camp set for Saturday

FOSTORIA — It's one of those situations that could make Micah Hyde simply shake his head — with a smile on his face, of course.Saturday will bring the eighth annual Micah Hyde Football Camp, which will send nearly 500 youngsters entering grades 3 through 6 to Fostoria's Memorial Stadium to perform a number of drills under the supervision of volunteer coaches and Hyde himself, a Fostoria High School graduate and a now-retired veteran of 11 NFL seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills.The initial camp, in 2017, served as a kickoff for Hyde's IMagINe for Youth foundation, and the event would actually be in its ninth year if not for the coronavirus pandemic of 2020."Year eight is just wild," Hyde said in a telephone interview from his home in San Diego. "I can still remember year one and how chaotic that was and all the things we've learned from that year until now."As evidenced by the camp taking place in his hometown annually, Hyde continues to keep a spot in his heart for the place where he grew up to be respectable citizen and exceled in football, basketball and baseball at FHS before going on to earn his degree and gain football honors at the University of Iowa and then becoming a two-time second-team All-Pro in the NFL."Anytime I go back to Fostoria, I'm flooded with all those memories," he said. "Even going to the stadium and seeing that place, there are always tons of memories and stuff like that. It's always going to be a magical place for myself, and as long as the support is there for this camp, I'm going to continue to put it on because I know people really look forward to it."There's no fee for youngsters to take part in the camp, and as well as a day of football-related activities, they receive a mea, a T-shirt and a gift bag containing various items, including an autographed picture of Hyde.The children registered for the camp online in the spring. The third- and fourth-grade camp is scheduled for 9 to 11 a.m., followed by the fifth- and sixth-graders from noon to 2 p.m. Check-in for each group will begin an hour ahead of the start time. Both Dick Kidwell Field within the stadium and the adjacent practice field are used.Admission for spectators will be $5 per person, though youngsters age 5 and under will be admitted free. Proceeds will benefit Hyde's foundation, which operates in Ohio, New York and Iowa with the goal of helping children "achieve a healthy, active and educated life."Hyde often says the nature of the camp's longevity allows that it "runs itself," and he notes that's due to the loyalty of the many volunteers who put in work year after year. The camp also enjoys considerable financial backing, led this year by "power sponsor" Blanchard Valley Health System."The support we have is amazing," Hyde said. "Not only the volunteers — not only the volunteers who show up, but the coaches who show up each and every year. "High school kids show up every now and then, high school coaches, people who I grew up with, my friends; my family really comes and helps. It really is a community event and it really can't be run without them. "Obviously, my name is on it, but — and I say this every year — it's not just my camp. It's the whole community that gets involved; all the volunteers who come out, all the parents who bring their kids to the event and all the kids who want to participate. We couldn't do this without a total group effort."Hyde said some past years included a considerable effort to bring in fellow NFL players to assist with drills and otherwise mingle with campers. With the camp often coinciding with the Bills' organized team activities, the foundation would sometimes arrange for players to travel to the camp and back to Buffalo, but that's no longer a priority."Having to pay for all that kind of takes away from what we should do in the community and what we can do for the event," he said. "I still invite guys, but it's not like we're stuck on it like we were in years past, on having to have guys there, because, ultimately, the kids are going to do what they want to do," he said. "I know (other people) want more and more role models there and stuff like that, but we've kind of gotten away from doing it at the expense of what it cost; it was just costing a little bit too much."Hyde said that while he's happy to see several youngsters coming from out of state and an increasing number of girls taking part, he and other camp organizers got a bit of a jolt from a shortcoming in registrations this year. But he said he appreciates those who are participating and anticipates another fun time at the facility where he first made a name for himself."The community's always done a great job, with the local sponsors who continue to help with this event," he said. "They're always supporting what we're doing. I don't know if it's necessarily being retired or whatnot, but the excitement for registration didn't match past years', which was a little bit eye-opening. But I know the day of, even if there's 460 kids instead of 500, that's still a lot of kids who can be out there running around and having fun. We're definitely excited for it."