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Hill Having Fun on and off the Field

June 29, 2012 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Tampa Bay Storm News Release


TAMPA BAY - While many players throughout the Arena Football League often find it challenging to juggle life both on and off the field, there are few who succeed in not only tackling both simultaneously, but exceling in each.

Among that small group is Tampa Bay Storm quarterback Nick Hill, a three-year AFL veteran out of Southern Illinois University, who is currently attempting to lead the Storm back to the playoffs just two years after the team fell one game short of earning what would have been an ArenaBowl-record sixth championship.

But even when he's not donning the blue and gold of the Storm, Hill nonetheless continues to groom himself into being a better quarterback. And as a matter of fact, others too.

During his own personal time, when he is away from the Storm, Hill enjoys operating youth football camps for elementary school-aged kids as well as young teenagers. The camps are designed to be both instructional and fun, and as an added bonus, beneficial to Hill himself since a number of the drills implemented by Hill involve demonstrating proper throwing technique and footwork, which allow him to stay sharp throughout the offseason.

"Anytime you can get on the field and be around the game, it's guaranteed to benefit you no matter at what level or at what age," Hill said. "There's always something to learn that you can take with you however far you may go in this game."

A former youth football camp attendee himself in his younger years, Hill said the idea of starting a camp of his own actually came to him while he was a student in college. That one in particular, started out small, but proved to be the catalyst in spurring the production of others in the future.

At the time, Hill was also studying to receive a degree in special education, and he thought the camp would serve as a good way to combine both of his passions - football and teaching - into one that would ultimately seem appropriate.

"I've always loved working with kids, I've always liked to coach and obviously I love football, so I thought if I put those things together and just let the kids go out there and have fun, and hopefully learn a few things too in the process, then this could be the start of something that I could continue doing."

To date, Hill currently has hosted approximately 10 different camps in the past three or four years. He recently held one just this past weekend that was centered solely around quarterbacks, with about 10 turning out to participate. It was somewhat small, he added, when compared to the camp before that, in which approximately 70 kids ranging from the ages of five to 14 years old came out to refine their skills.

"The overall goal is for it to be fun for me and the kids," Hill said. "I've always thought that if I could inspire someone to play football or if I could teach them something, it would be worth it."

To make the camps successful for all parties involved, Hill draws not only from his own personal experience as a player, but also from observations he has made as a result of working side by side with several current NFL stars.

Prior returning to the Storm earlier this month, Hill spent time with 2010 NFL Player of the Year Aaron Rodgers while attending offseason camp with the Green Bay Packers. While he was only with the team for a few months, the experience proved to be an invaluable one, in which Hill brought back several helpful pointers which he plans on utilizing at his own camps in the future.

Hill even served as a counselor at the renowned Manning Passing Academy, working in close proximity with both Peyton and Eli Manning for two years, helping each facilitate several of their many youth football camps during the summer.

"I think those experiences really helped me out for preparing to hold my own camps with those who a little bit older, such as high school kids," Hill added. "I know I always looked up to those guys, so if some kids come over to one of my camps and they look up to me, I think I would consider that as my biggest highlight."

There is no telling, Hill says, how far the camps will go or where they may lead, but according to Hill, that alone is not nearly as important as the role they currently serve in the present.

"You want to leave an impact on them, and there is more to that than just teaching them the fundamentals of football," Hill said. "They also need to learn about teamwork, leadership, hard work, unselfishness, and a lot different character traits that go into more than just playing football.

"It's always satisfying to go out there and do your best in teaching the kids and seeing them have fun, and then get texts or emails from parents saying how their kids had a blast. For me, that's really what it's all about."

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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