A group of kids in cleats and practice jerseys waits in line on a grass field in Kansas City on a warm June evening. A coach blows a whistle. The drills start. There’s nothing movie-like about it; it’s just kids working on their footwork, running routes, and getting their stance fixed. That’s the whole point.
The 25th Kansas City Youth Football Camp is back in 2026. The camp is put on by Kansas City Athlete Training, an all-sports athletic performance center in the middle of the KC Metro. It runs from June 15th to June 18th, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm each night. More than nine hours of practice time are spent on the field during those four sessions. Not any filler. There was no showmanship. Just reps.
While the schedule and drills are important, it’s the camp’s philosophy that makes it worth your time. Based on their age and skill level, each player is put into a group. Each group is paired with a team of experienced coaches made up of local high school and youth coaches who know the area well. The lessons cover both offense and defense, and the objective is not to turn kids into college prospects. That’s not the case. By the time Thursday night comes around, make every kid a better and more confident football player.
It seems like this kind of camp fills a need that bigger, more commercial shows don’t quite meet. It’s not always the kids here who are being scouted. These people need to be taught how to line up right, read a defense, and play without losing their cool when things go wrong. It is said that coaches talk to their players every night about things other than football, like life, why it’s important to show up, and what it means to be a part of something.
Charles Harris, a former NFL player, and Ish Wainwright, an NBA player, are both from Kansas City schools, Lincoln Prep and Raytown South. They have been giving back to the community by working together to give kids in the area free camps. Harris made it clear: this isn’t about branding. “This isn’t for us, this isn’t for our brand, this is for the city.” When you hear that out loud, without a sponsor banner in the middle of the sentence, it’s nice. This was also said by Wainwright, who said that the camp’s purpose is to show kids that there are real ways to get out of trouble, such as through sports, business, and hard work.
For Wainwright, the work is important to him personally. It was known that his dad Calvin helped young people in Kansas City through programs like night hoops. He died last year. The act of running camps now feels like a continuation. Wainwright said, “He did so much for so many generations before me.” It’s hard not to feel that in the energy these veterans bring back to the city.
When asked what the kids at camp should do, Harris was clear: “We’re not looking for perfection.” Start over with simple moves.” That’s an important message that doesn’t get enough attention in youth sports, where parents and players often come expecting a revelation and are upset when it doesn’t happen. The basics aren’t very exciting. Plus, they’re what really works.
Kansas City Athlete Training is open all year and has a Football Academy where boys and girls from youth football to college level can get football-specific training. The summer camp fits right into that bigger picture. It’s a concentrated version of what the facility does all week, brought out to the field and given directly to kids who might not have another way to get involved.
After 25 years, the camp isn’t trying to start over with anything new. They are trying to do the same thing they have always done, which is to put willing kids with good coaches and trust that something good will happen. There isn’t much reason to doubt that it does so far.
