'Giving back.” - UNH football coach Rick Santos talks on the value of program's annual youth football camp

DURHAM – There were 225 middle school and high school football players geared up, hyped up and ready to learn this week on the playing field at the University of New Hampshire.

And with their arrival, many members of the UNH football team had a role reversal from player to coach.

The annual UNH Football Camp brought in a record number of campers, and Wildcat head coach Rick Santos said he was excited for the annual event, as it gives his coaches and players a chance to give back, while also helping young players improve.

“This was something Coach Mac (Sean McDonnell) did for as long as I can remember, and it’s awesome,” Santos said. “We really want to give back to the community and we want to get coaches and players in front of these kids so they can get familiar with our program and our players. It also gives us a chance to get to know the young players in the area. We show them the expectations we hold our players to.”

While hard work is given when the middle school and high school players show up to a football camp at UNH in July, the campers seemed to be more focused on how fun the four days of the camp had been.

“This is a lot of fun,” said Portsmouth High School's Max Durkin. “All the coaches and the (UNH) players are really good.”

Durkin, and teammate Cole McLaughlin, both of whom will be juniors at Portsmouth in the fall, already had connections to UNH. Both of Durkin’s older siblings attend the university, and McLaughlin’s sister works social media for the football team.

“Already having that connection, it’s cool to be able to connect with the players,” McLaughlin said. “And they are a lot of fun to learn with and be around.”

“It would be an honor to play at UNH,” Durkin added. “So to be able to meet and learn from the guys who have been successful enough to make it here is a great opportunity.”

The feeling is mutual, according to UNH players Brian Espanet and Ryan Toscano.

“It’s a great time,” said Espanet, a senior wide receiver from Hopedale, Massachusetts. "The coaches are having fun. The kids are having fun. It’s great for both sides. We’re getting to know the kids and they get to learn what we have come to know through the years.”

“It’s great to give back to the kids,” said Toscano, a sophomore linebacker from Bedford. "If I were in their position, I would think it was cool to come out and work with us and get to know the players from the team.”

Spaulding High School rising junior Hunter Libby said that having a high quality camp like this so close to home is great for local players, especially for players like him who have set goals they are trying to reach.

“I’m trying to learn to play defense a little better,” Libby said. “I’m hoping to get more experience and earn a varsity starting spot. I got a few snaps on varsity last year, but I knew I needed to get better to reach my goal, and this gave me the chance to do that.’

Sam Grube is entering his junior year at Dover High School in the fall, and he was putting on a show during the final scrimmage of the week with two touchdowns by the midpoint of Wednesday's junior/senior scrimmage.

“We’re all here to get better,” Grube said. “This (closing scrimmage) is the best part so far. We’ve worked up to this all week, and now we get to have some fun and show what we’ve learned.”

While the main focus of this week’s camp was learning and improving as individuals, there are other benefits to both the middle and high school athletes in attendance and the UNH football program.

Santos said UNH wants to be competitive in recruiting in New England, and events like this camp help in that endeavor.

“This gives us a chance to get to know these kids, and have a positive relationship with them when they are young,” Santos said. “And it gives them a chance to learn about us, and our program, and hopefully when they are older they want to come here and play.”

UNH is often competing for the best players from across the state, and across New England. Santos said there are currently six or seven players on the team from New Hampshire, and at least four of them attended the camp under Coach McDonnell when they were younger.

“The great thing about this is that we actually carry the young players through the drills that our guys do,” he said. “We want to have fun, but we want them to work hard. That will teach them what they need to know to be successful.”

“It’s fun because – all these players – we’ve been in their shoes,” Espanet said. “We’re relaying what we’ve learned and what we would have wanted to learn at their age. At the end of the day we’re all out here to have fun and play football.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Annual UNH youth football camp is a win-win for coaches and players alike