Today Lock Haven held one of their many prospect camps that all colleges hold in the summer months, but for the first time in a long time they added a new kind of football camp, a full fledged seven on seven round robin tournament.

In total six teams showed up to today’s camp, with Bellefonte, Central Mountain, Bald Eagle Area, Athens, Hollidaysburg and Dubois High making the drive down to the Sterns Family Athletic Complex.

The idea was started by Lock Haven head coach Joe Battaglia, who thought having a live camp could provide a better opportunity to get a look at players in live situations saying that “Seeing full team activities and actually seeing these guys face adversity is a big thing for us, it’s seeing their character and how they respond when things go badly.”

After a few hours of warm up and some practice seven-on-seven, the official tournament began. Both Central Mountain and Bellefonte were eliminated in short order, followed by Bald Eagle beating Dubois and Hollidaysburg beating Athens to set up the finale.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bald Eagle Area football players hang out during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

Interestingly, both Hollidaysburg and BEA are led by Lock Haven alums, the Golden Tigers being led by Homer DeLattre, and Bald Eagle being led by Jessie Nagle. After what was a close final frame of Wednesday’s tournament, it was Hollidaysburg who managed to pull out the close victory and win the day.

Alongside the seven on seven drills Lock Haven was also simultaneously hosting a “big man challenge” with the offensive and defensive lineman from the same six schools.

While that side of the camp was a more traditional non-contact, drill based approach, that doesn’t mean there was no competition involved, as they ended the day hosting a tug-o-war tournament to cap off the day, with Bald Eagle Area coming out the victor.

Talking about the camp as a whole, coach Battaglia expressed excitement in how the camp went, while also hoping to improve and expand moving forward, expressing a hope to get as many as 20 or more schools to attend in the future.

“We have got an unbelievable facility here, we made five fields today and we can grow up to ten in the future. It’s all about building these relationships with High School coaches, getting them on campus and making them want to do this again for years in the future. We are just looking forward to building this thing in the future.”

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Bellefonte football players hang out during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

Lock Haven is continuing to host high school camps throughout the month, with upcoming events on Sunday, July 20, and youth camps scheduled on July 22, 23 and 24.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Central Mountain football player listens to a coach during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Bald Eagle Area football player catches a pass during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Bellefonte football player makes a cut during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Bald Eagle Area football player drops back during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Bellefonte football player reaches for extra yardage during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express Central Mountain football players try to make a tackle during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.

TIM WEIGHT/For the Express A Bellefonte football player carries the ball during a camp hosted by Lock Haven University at Stern Athletic Complex Wednesday.