Now that college athletes are allowed to benefit from their name, image and likeness, one way they can make money is by hosting their own sports camps.
At least 16 Ohio State football players will be doing that this summer after partnering with Nike to serve as instructors at their Skills Football Camps, including three camps that will be held in the state of Ohio as well as six camps that will be held in other locations around the country.
Ten Ohio State football players will serve as instructors at a camp at Olentangy Orange High School in Lewis Center, Ohio – just north of Columbus and the alma mater of one of the instructors, Zach Harrison – that will be held from June 27-29. Other instructors at that camp will include running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams, center Luke Wypler, defensive tackles Ty Hamilton and Tyleik Williams, linebacker Cody Simon, cornerback Denzel Burke, safety Ronnie Hickman and kicker Noah Ruggles.
Columbus, OH Get Ready! @Nike
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Be on the lookout for more upcoming camp sites plus dates nationwide! #NILmanagement #Nike @TreVeyonH4 @zacharrison_ @Miyann28 @asvprocket_ @King10Burke @tyleikk @tyhamilton__ @noahruggles @Cody_Simon30 pic.twitter.com/0bdRBrbrOf
Several of those players told Eleven Warriors Friday that they are excited to be instructors at the camp because they remember going to similar camps when they were younger.
“I definitely want to help the younger generation and come up and learn football the right way, and I’m blessed right now to be able to teach these kids,” Simon said during a promotional event for the camp. “I’ve done many camps at my own school, and it’s really great to see them learn and see them develop as players.”
These camps will be the first of their kind for active Ohio State football players now that players can be paid to promote camps that aren’t affiliated with the university. Had college athletes been able to host camps when they were kids, though, the players who will be doing so now said they certainly would have wanted to have the opportunity to attend those camps.
“I haven’t been to one where there was college kids in attendance but now that I’m doing it, it’s kind of crazy,” Burke said.
Burke, Harrison, Henderson, Williams, safety Bryson Shaw and linebackers Steele Chambers, Tommy Eichenberg and Cade Stover will also be instructors at a camp in Mansfield, Ohio, along with Virginia quarterback Brennan Armstrong and Michigan State safety Angelo Grose, from June 6-8. For Stover, a Mansfield native, that will be an opportunity to spend some time with the next generation of athletes in his hometown.
“It’s super cool. I just know for me as a kid, if I was in that position when I was attending high school, I would have had my mom pinch all her pennies to get us into that place,” Stover said. “I just know how I would have looked at it as a kid and I hope they look at it the same way I would have.”
Were PROUD to announce our partnership with @Nike camps!
— nilmanagement (@nilmanagement) January 27, 2022
Be on the lookout for upcoming camp sites plus dates nationwide! @TreVeyonH4 @zacharrison_ @King10Burke @cstov8 @noahruggles @Miyann28 @bshaw272727 @tommyeichenberg #NILmanagement pic.twitter.com/Ytka3jEOnv
Ohio State players are also set to serve as instructors at a camp in Akron from June 23-25, though the roster of instructors for that camp has not yet been announced.
Several Ohio State football players will also be instructors at Nike camps outside the state of Ohio. Henderson, Williams and linebacker Teradja Mitchell will serve as instructors at a camp in their home state of Virginia from June 20-22, while Burke, Chambers and Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba will be instructors at a camp in Frisco, Texas, from July 1-3.
Additional camps that will include active Ohio State players as instructors will be held in Tampa, Florida, from June 6-8; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from June 13-15; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from June 20-22; and Atlanta, Georgia from June 27-29. The specific Buckeyes who will be instructors at those camps have not yet been finalized.
Each three-day camp is open to boys and girls ages 8-18. The camps in Columbus, Mansfield, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Texas are open for registration at ussportscamps.com and cost $495 to attend.
