Football is a tough, grueling sport that can test the mental and physical capabilities of athletes while instilling the value of teamwork and accountability.
Who better to teach a group of high school players about those values than members of the U.S. Marine Corps?
The Marine Corps Leadership Academy will host its Built to Lead Football camp on Saturday, June 27, at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Fla. The event will include several special coaches and instructors from high school and college football, including Noah Senka, an offensive lineman from the University of Central Florida, and military leaders.
John Kelley, the academy’s senior event director, said that while the camp offers instruction from elite coaches, it also delivers Marine Corps leadership qualities that could shape an athlete’s success throughout college and beyond.
“Leadership traits instilled by the Marines at the Sports Leadership Academy clinics, such as accountability, teamwork, effort and loyalty, have direct implications and benefits for athletes,” Kelley said. “On a football field, athletes must work together as a team to reach their goals, just as Marines do. To improve, not only as a teammate but as a leader, athletes must hold themselves accountable and work every day on becoming the best version of themselves they can be.”
Free Camp Offers One-of-a-Kind Approach
While the camp focuses on essential football skills, athletes will also be tested physically through unique Marine Corps challenges designed to build character and foster teamwork.
Since its inception in 2017, the USMC Sports Leadership Academy has hosted more than 300 clinics in six different high school sports. While the number of athletes attending the camps varies based on sport, in 2025, about 180 participants attended each clinic, according to Kelley.
Each event concludes with an awards presentation and closing ceremony, with the top seven performers receiving All-Academy medals. The clinic also features the USMC Sports Leadership Academy Team Challenge, where an athletic program can receive a monetary donation for having the most athletes in attendance.
The camp, for students aged 14-19, is free to attend.
Besides football, the academy is hosting 24 clinics across the eastern U.S. this year for lacrosse, soccer, basketball, volleyball and wrestling.
‘Tough, Strong Citizens’
Kelley said the clinics are unique from most other sports camps because they integrate military leaders into the training process.
“Every athlete needs these skills. Every coach wants to coach these athletes. Every community needs tough, strong citizens,” he said. “Through this one-of-a-kind event, local youth will become ‘Built to Lead’—both on and off the field.”
The camps help young athletes build responsibility and work ethic, while receiving top-notch instruction to sharpen skills they’ll use this fall on the gridiron.
“They come away with a great experience to improve in their sport, as well as interact with Marines, often for the first time in their lives,” Kelley said. “Athletes who have attended the clinics over the ten years of the program implement the leadership skills they learn from the Marines into their own lives, to the benefit of themselves, their teams and their community.”
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