K.C. Adams
’ booming voice sets the tone. “Who owns the fourth quarter?”
Adams shouts as last week’s session of the Myles Brinson-J.R. Adams
Fundamental Football Camp kicks off. More than 100 campers – boys
and girls from the age of 7 up – fire back an answer to the coach
and camp co-organizer at t
he top of their lungs: “I do, I do!” “Are you tired?” Adams
shouts again, to youngsters lined up nine-deep on the Anchorpoint
Christian athletic field. “No sir!” the campers yell back.
K.C. Adams’ booming voice sets the tone. “Who owns the fourth quarter?” Adams shouts as last week’s session of the Myles Brinson-J.R. Adams Fundamental Football Camp kicks off. More than 100 campers – boys and girls from the age of 7 up – fire back an answer to the coach and camp co-organizer at the top of their lungs:
“I do, I do!”
“Are you tired?” Adams shouts again, to youngsters lined up nine-deep on the Anchorpoint Christian athletic field.
“No sir!” the campers yell back.
Such is the powerful energy that surrounded the five days of camp, which drew 130 kids last week, the largest turnout it has seen in four years.
K.C. Adams and Marlowe Brinson, two close friends with a brotherly bond made stronger by tragic losses, have run the camp every summer since 2002. For the first three years, the camp honored Brinson’s 8-year-old son Myles who died of leukemia in May 2002. But this year the camp also honored J.R. Adams, K.C.’s 17-year-old son, a Valley Christian football standout who was killed in a hit-and-run accident while vacationing in Mexico in March.
In the past, J.R. was alongside his father and the other coaches, leading drills and coaching the campers.
“It’s been a tough (camp) for me,” says K.C., who wears a white fisherman’s hat that bears the words “J.R.’s Dad” in green on the back. “But the best.”
K.C. leads the pack of coaches, which includes cousins, friends and even neighbors of the Adams or Brinson families. J.R.’s friend Josh Isais and cousin Frankie Medina, a first-time volunteer, are two of them.
Every so often, when K.C. senses the campers’ attention is starting to lag, he asks them again, “Are you tired?”
The campers respond: “Gimme some more!”
More than football
The two close friends, who with their wives Liz Adams and Sherida Brinson plan the event each year, aim to make the camp about more than just football. It’s also about remembering the spirit of their sons and teaching campers how to succeed in life outside sport. Every year, guest speakers from all walks of life pass on words of wisdom to the campers. This year, the speakers included Tom Brady, Sr., the father of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady; Dr. Allen Wong, Myles’ oncologist at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Clara; Millard Hampton, a 1976 Olympic gold medallist in track and field and San Jose State alum; and John Coney, J.R.’s bible study teacher at Valley Christian.
Coney and Wong centered their speeches around lessons they learned from J.R. and Myles.
“(Coney) talked about J.R.’s walk with God and how he didn’t let peer pressure hold him back from his faith,” Sherida Brinson said.
Wong spoke about the value of saving money because even as an 8-year-old, “Myles believed in having a plan and saving money,” Sherida said. Her son knew where he wanted to go to college, what kind of car he wanted and that he would grow up to be an accountant so he could help his family with financial decisions, Myles’ mother relates.
Eyes on the prize
Some campers wear dark green shirts, signifying they’ve won one of the two awards the camp gives out daily.
For the past three years, “Bad Dude” awards and t-shirts were given out each day to a select few campers whose effort and hard work stood out. The award originated from what Marlowe used to say to Myles when he was undergoing his cancer treatment. Marlowe would tell Myles, “You a bad dude,” to which Myles would reply, “You ain’t lyin’.”
This year two more awards, these ones in honor of J.R., were given out each day. The t-shirts for J.R.’s award had his No. 3 on the back and the saying “I see you, boy.” K.C. said whenever J.R. did something good at a game, he would yell from the stands to his son, “I see you, boy!” to let him know he’d done well.
Every year, the camp relies on sponsors and volunteers to function. Sherida said that this year, their sponsor support was greater than ever. In addition to t-shirts, the camp gave out 20 prizes per day, including gift certificates, backpacks and football cards. There was even a grand prize raffle for a Dell computer, which was donated by Sue Melone, Marlowe Brinson’s boss at Owens-Corning. Money earned from this year’s camp will fund future camps and even more camper scholarships.
The camp is truly a family affair. Myles’ identical twin, 11-year-old Marcel is out on the field, going through drills. Older sister Ashley, 15, shows up later to help out. And J.R.’s step-siblings Quillan and Sebrina are in on the field action, too. For the first time in four years of camp, Sebrina won an award. And it happened to be her cousin’s. It was a sweet reward for the 9-year-old, who turned down an extra “award” t-shirt her brother Quillan offered her last year because she wanted to earn her own.
On Friday, the last day, the camp releases balloons into the sky in a tribute to the boys. It’s the signal of the end of the experience, until next year.
By then, Sherida hopes to have large pictures of both Myles and J.R. made up to hang at the camp so that each camper can see the boys and know who they were.
For now, it’s time to savor the lessons learned and friends made on the football field.
“It’s been beautiful,” Marlowe says. “It’s been a blessing.”
