By Jay Heater 

CONTRA COSTA TIMES,  JULY 9, 2006

Ahhh, summer camp. Those days of splashing in the lake, meeting new friends and singing around the campfire. 

Unless you happen to be a high school football player. 

Summer camp has taken on an entirely new meaning for teenagers who want to keep up with the competition. Campsites have transformed from picnic tables and fireplaces to university athletic fields. Instead of sleeping in a tent, kids get a taste of dorm life. 

Camp counselors? They are high-powered college coaches and current and former NFL players. 

And no longer do youngsters just venture to one camp a year. Those hoping to keep up with the football Joneses have to double up, triple up, or more. 

“Counting the Nike Combine, I’ve gone to five camps,” said Granada High School lineman Mike Marcisz, who also attended the Arizona State, Cal and Fresno State football camps as well as the LinemenInc camp in Stockton. “I go just to get noticed. I wanted to get my name out there. Arizona State and Fresno State already have offered me (a scholarship). I am definitely interested in Cal, which is known especially for its linemen.” 

Marcisz understands that attending camp at a university allows him not only to get a feel for the environment, but to be exposed to the coaches whom he might be working under the next four or five years. 

He also understands that his parents have to make a substantial monetary commitment to his summertime pursuits. 

“You’ve got the camps, which are about $300 a pop, and for some of them, you have plane fare,” he said. “But they definitely have helped me. I have learned so much technique from having the college coaches coaching me.” 

Even so, Marcisz admits that he is ready to experience a few lazy summer days. “I’m tired of sleeping in tiny beds,” he said. “I’m 6-foot-5 and I’ve been sleeping in tiny beds for a month straight. It’s tough on the body.” 

Camp was tough on Liberty High lineman Jay Martin in a different way. Martin sprained his knee at Fresno State’s camp, which prevented him from participating in the live drills at the LinemenInc camp. 

Still, he thought it was important that he attend LinemenInc because both the Fresno State and Cal offensive and defensive line coaches were instructing. He also wanted to get all the important training and conditioning information that the camp provides. 

“These camps really help you get out there and see what kind of competition you are facing,” Martin said. “It also gives college coaches a chance to see you. Then it helps me with my fundamentals.” 

Martin attended the first LinemenInc camp, which was started in 2004 by his current Liberty High head coach, Dave Reinders, and Granada defensive line coach Gary Tabke. 

The LinemenInc camp isn’t set up just to cater to high-profile players. Tabke said the camp’s focus is to produce quality high school linemen. However, Martin believes that top players feel some pressure to attend camps. 

“The top coaches are out there. and if you don’t show up, they probably are wondering why you aren’t there,” said Martin, who is 6-foot-2, 285 pounds. 

At LinemenInc, Martin was exposed to coaches from Cal, Fresno State and Sacramento State, among others. “You see how they coach, and what they do,” he said. “They all have different ways of doing things.” 

Tabke and Reinders saw the exploding business of summer football camps and decided to tap into the specialized market. 

“There are all kinds of football camps for skill players, but nothing West of the Mississippi that specialized in linemen,” Tabke said. “All great teams begin with lines.” 

LinemenInc drew 58 players its first year in 2004, 175 last year and 240 this year. Tabke created a Web site (www.linemeninc.com) that has generated a lot of interest. 

Business is booming at other camps as well. Cal added a kicking camp to its regular camp last year. 

“We were the only school in the Pac-10 to have a kicking camp last year, and this year there were four or five kicking camps,” former Cal and NFL kicker Doug Brien said. “Stanford scheduled its camp the same weekend as ours.” 

Cal‘s kicking camp grew from 42 kids in 2005 to 50 this year, and Brien expects that number to increase again next year. 

“Football camp has turned into a big business,” said Brien, who also runs a nationwide kicking combine series (www.kicking.com) that allows high school football players a chance to audition for colleges. “Parents are doing anything they can to get their kids into a good school.”. 

Camps line up attractive staffs to pack in the kids. Besides Brien, the Cal camp featured former NFL and Cal kicker Mick Luckhurst along with former Cal punter Mike Ahr, who was Luckhurst’s holder at Cal. Former Cal punter Tyler Fredrickson taught along with former Bears kicker Mark Jensen and current Cal special teams coach Pete Alamar. 

Tabke said he has been flooded with inquiries from many college coaches about the chance to teach, and to be exposed, to the campers at LinemenInc. 

LinemenInc has taken off so quickly that Tabke said a second camp will be added in Southern California next year. 

“It terms of a business, we are experiencing great growth and success,” Tabke said. “Our five-year plan was to have two camps, and our 10-year plan was to start selling franchises. In this day and age, things are becoming so specialized and everyone is looking to gain an edge.”