Turnout has been a chief concern for Van-Far football, but it wasn’t a problem on Saturday.

The Indians conducted their annual youth camp for upcoming third- to sixth-graders in Vandalia and welcomed a bigger crowd of kids than last year. 

Head coach Lucas Gibson, who enters his second year leading the high school program, said the camp has been in place for as long as he could remember. This year’s group was bigger than his first time heading the camp and was pleased with how it went. 

“It’s to get kids interested in the game and see what it’s all about,” Gibson said. “Hopefully, they can see the older kids having fun, and we’re just trying to build the program so it’s got to start (somewhere).”

Gibson remembers his son and upcoming senior Gage Gibson was in elementary school when the program had less than 20 kids on the high school roster. Around that time, the youth program was started, and in present day, Gibson is happy to have his roster in the 20s so far this year.

From 8 a.m. to about 10 a.m., the kids had opportunities to run drills testing basic skills necessary to succeed in football. Some of Gibson’s players were out there with the coaches to keep the kids focused and entertained. The day wrapped up with a game of “Run Rabbit Run,” which has several kids playing the role as wolves who try to catch and tag the rabbits, as a fun way for the kids to expel energy before they gained access to the team’s weight room to learn about the Indians’ workout routine.

“(Run Rabbit Run) was to allow the kids to have some fun, and run and tag is kind of like how football is,” Gibson said. “We also just taught them some of the fundamentals (of the game).”