NFL wide receiver and Westgate High School alumnus Diontae Spencer held his first ever Diontae Spencer Youth Football Camp at Westgate High on Saturday.

The camp, which was broken into two sessions, was available for athletes ages 7-17 year old. Campers performed drills, played mini games, and learned fundamental football techniques from some of the area’s best players and coaches.

Spencer said that a lot of work went into making the camp possible.

“Sloan (Leipzig, Director of Recruiting at Rep 1 Sports) was a big part of putting it together along with BeSmart and so many other people and organizations,” he said. “They all worked hard so that we could allow these kids to come out here and have an opportunity to compete, have fun, and work hard.”

The community support for the camp was immense. In addition to two full sessions of campers, the parking lot at Westgate was full of cars for families who stayed to watch the camp and partake in music and food.

“I knew that the community would come out and support these kids and give them something to look forward to,” Spencer said. “My family is out here, my agency, Rep 1, is out here, so it’s not just me. A lot of people came together to put this event on. It was a great event and I look forward to putting this on again in the future.”

Several current and former Westgate football players were coaches at the camp, something that Spencer said is important for the sense of community that he supports.

“One thing that I always preach is availability,” he explained. “I’m always showing my face and I’m always around and a lot of those players at Westgate have my number and can reach out to me. I mentor a lot of those kids, so for them to come out and give back to the community was another opportunity that I wanted to give them. They’re doing something positive in the community so I wanted my coaches to be those guys that are players now or former players who are now in college.”

One such player was Tigers star Dedrick Latulas, who spent the day running drills and entertaining the campers.

“We just wanted to interact with the kids and show them a good time,” Latulas said. “We set up some drill stations for them and motivated them with some dancing, just trying to make them want to be here. (The older players) did it for us when we were young so we want to do the same thing for the next generation.”

Latulas said that being able to work with Diontae Spencer was a great motivator, showing the current Tigers players that they can achieve anything that they set their minds to.

“It’s very inspirational, it gives me a lot of hope,” he said. “Coming from where we come from and knowing me that he was in the same position as me, an undersized receiver who was maybe undervalued coming out of high school. It shines a light on the program and makes me feel very hopeful for my future.”

Sponsors for the 2022 Diontae Spencer Youth Football Camp were:

– Hydraguard

– REP 1 Sports

– Politics

– Action Specialties

– Jersey Mike’s

– Everytown

– RocStar Cafe

– RimPros

– Jane’s Seafood

– Haik, Minvielle, Grubbs & D’Albor attorneys at law

– Rider Dental (Family Dentistry)

– Chick-fil-A

– EPIC Education & Consulting

– Cliff’s Impressive Cuts

– Mac-nificent Kutz

– J’s Kuttin Above the Rest

– Brooklyn’s Finest Fades

– Meeks Chop Shop

– BLVD

To keep up with Diontae Spencer, follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/diontae.spencer or on Instagram at instagram.com/d_spencee.