- April 24, 2024
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Nalaysha Tolbert and Diaje Betts race against each other. Photo by Ray Boone
Six-year-old Bella jumps over hurdles at Matanzas' football field. Photo by Ray Boone
Collin McPhail high-fives a coach after completing a drill. Photo by Ray Boone
Demar Hamilton jumps over a hurdle at Matanzas' football field. Photo by Ray Boone
Isabelle Garces and Jonathan Rodriguez sprint to the finish at Matanzas' football field. Photo by Ray Boone
Liam Michels runs with a volunteer during a drill. Photo by Ray Boone
Maguire Peters runs with a volunteer during a drill. Photo by Ray Boone
Tyresse Douglas tries to catch Oliver Wolken during a drill. Photo by Ray Boone
Matanzas' Seaton Waldhauer watches as a kid does a drill. Photo by Ray Boone
To make the next generation of youth "the most active and healthy," former NFL players, local high school players and coaches, and local children gathered together as part of the NFL's Play 60 challenge on Saturday, July 21, at Matanzas High School.
More than 100 local kids, ages 4 to 15, attended the event — the sixth such event held in the county. Matanzas last hosted NFL Play 60, which was launched in 2007 as part of an initiative to tackle childhood obesity, in 2016.
There were no such programs back when Sam Sword, a former NFL linebacker and one of the organizers of the event, was a kid. The only camps available at the time cost money. Saturday presented more than just a chance to get kids active.
"It doesn't cost to exercise,"said Sword, who played one year for the Oakland Raiders and three years for the Indianapolis Colts. "At the end of the day, it's about getting kids to get up, get outside and get moving."
