The four-day camp fielded 400 prep athletes from across the state hoping to tap into the knowledge and wisdom provided by 20 to 25 collegiate coaches brought in to supervise training sessions.

While attendance was a little lower than previous years among local high school teams, the impact made is no less valuable, noted coaches Duncan Shackelford, of Chugiak, and first-year Eagle River High coach Kenny Ray.

Eagle River High had 12 athletes present, including seven freshmen, according to Ray, who first attended the camp in 1993 as a Chugiak High assistant coach.

Last year, Eagle River High had 11 players at the camp.

Ray was the defensive coordinator for the Mustangs between 1992 and 2000, which included a storied stint of four straight years in the state championship game.

“I wish I had an entire team out here,” Ray said.

Shackelford had 38 players from Chugiak High School present. Last year he had 50 athletes, and in previous years as many as 60. Among those attending this year were 15 to16 players from the C team.

Shackelford appreciates the direction given to younger athletes, with an emphasis on individual techniques and fundamentals, along with positive attitude, discipline, work ethic, and pride in self and team.

“It’s an excellent camp - like all the other years,” said Shackleford. “The athletes get great individual coaching from college coaches around the United States”

This year’s knowledge base was augmented with 22 collegiate coaches from various levels, including Junior Colleges and NAIA schools, up to NCAA Division II and D-III institutions.

Shackelford said the camp also gives participating schools a jump-start on the season.

“It gives us a good chance to build upon the concepts that we need to work on,” said the coach.

That is true for the coaching staff as well, noted Ray.

Ray has three former Chugiak High players among his assistant coaches, all from the 1996 state title team, and all of whom were along the sidelines at All-Alaska Camp. Two of those players, now coaches, Joe Taylor and Matt Patterson, played college football.

Former Dimond High coach Randy Klingenmeyer was the camp director. Interestingly, Shackelford was a successor to Klingenmeyer as Dimond High coach, prior to Shackelford’s move out to Chugiak High in 2001.

“When (the camp) started (18) years ago, we had 102 kids and two or three high school coaches. Now we have more than 400 athletes every year, and 50 to 60 high school coaches here every day,” said Klingenmeyer.

Ray remembers those camps in the early 1990s. He liked the camp then, with his own two sons, Josh and Kenny Jr., going through their paces, then excelling in high school ball, then going on into college. He has been impressed with the continued growth of the camp.

Now athletes, and their coaches, Shackelford, Ray and dozens others from around the state, have less than a month prior to the start of high school football practices, beginning July 27.

Reach the reporter at editor@alaskastar.com.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, July 2, 2009.