What was originally supposed to be a birthday present for Luke Olivares, a seventh grader at Rockdale Junior High, ended up being a community wide event for area youth looking for something to do while out of the classroom during spring break.
Tymon Locklin, a Milam County resident with family ties to Rockdale, held a free youth football camp that came into fruition after he had a chat with Luke’s mother, Esmeralda Ruelas-Olivares.
“Originally, I talked to (Locklin) about playing a game of football with my son Luke and his friends for his birthday,” Ruelas-Olivares said. “But it just evolved into a free football camp.
“Especially since a lot of kids are out of school for spring break and want to get out of the house.”
Locklin had no problem doing the camp and loved the idea of helping out the youth in his community.
“When you think about it, kids don’t really have a whole lot to do here,” he said. “I heard they used to have a skating rink and a movie theatre, and now they don’t even have that.”
With more than a dozen kids in attendance on the practice field at Tiger Stadium, the camp focused on agility, speed and having fun. Campers also got t-shirts at the end of the camp.
The former New Mexico State football player, who also plays for an arena football team called the Spokane Shock, spends his off-season in the area and wants to do another camp in the future.
He discussed holding a camp during the summer and making it a week long ordeal, not just focusing on football, but doing a different sport everyday.
He is the son of Kelly and Kerry Locklin, who was on Rockdale’s 1976 state championship team. His younger brother, Torry Locklin, played quarterback for the Tigers in their 2017 state title run and now plays for the University of Kansas. Locklin’s grandfather, Billy Ray, was a lifetime Rockdale resident who played in the National Football League and was also elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.