SPORTS

Summer campers meet training campers at Jets practice

Jane Havsy
@dailyrecordspts

FLORHAM PARK –  “Geno!”

The roar came from the center of the bleachers at the New York Jets’ training facility in Florham Park on Wednesday afternoon.

And again, “One... Two... Three... Geno!” The 70 neon-clad kids from Linden Recreation Day Camp wanted to make sure the Jets quarterback heard them.

He showed no reaction, but they weren’t dissuaded, calling out a few other players’ names before drifting off into individual conversations again. Andrea Morrison, an 11-year-old from Linden, said she’s a Dallas Cowboys fan, “but once they scream it out a lot, you know (who’s who). ... It’s a once in a lifetime chance.”

The Jets invited more than 1,500 youngsters from 23 New Jersey summer camps to watch practice at their Florham Park facility on Wednesday.

Wharton Municipal Alliance Chairperson Robin Ghebreal said “every kid in town” wanted to go to training camp. She brought 52 of them, ages 7 to 15, hoping they’d interact with the professional football players just 20 minutes from home as “real people.”

The community is invited to training camp in Florham Park on Aug. 11, 15 and 16, with free tickets available to download from the Jets’ website. The Jets will also host a special session for season-ticket holders on Aug. 19, and local youth football teams on Aug. 24.

“They’re right here, and they’re a lot bigger than they look on TV,” said 12-year-old Julia Spinelli of Millington. “You can go see them and you can cheer for them. You’ve seen them up close now. They’re just people.”

More than 150 campers from Asbury Park Recreation piled onto school buses for the long drive up the Garden State Parkway.

Nasear Henry, a 12-year-old staying in Asbury Park for the summer, particularly wanted to meet Jets QB Geno Smith on Wednesday. A former quarterback in Chambersburg, Pa., Henry was trying to think of questions to ask the players — if any got close enough.

“(Smith) taught me, as a quarterback, that everything is possible, so don’t give up on your dreams,” Henry said. “He’s just himself on the football field. He deals with all the publicity and people saying he’s not good, but he really is good.”

Alexander Edmond stood out from the crowd of 103 middle schoolers wearing the turquoise T-shirts of Old Bridge Twp. Summer Recess Program, dancing to the music blaring over JetsFest before practice. Edmond admitted he isn’t interested in sports, but he brought a Jets logo printout colored in a rainbow to get autographs for his father, Amel Edmond.

“I don’t know what to expect,” said Edmond, a 12-year-old from Keyport. “All the dancing at the inflatables are going to be oodles of fun. ... I was hoping something good would happen, and it did, the dancing. I love to dance. I can dance any time.”

Joe Dotro of Randolph, thought he was going to “meet the players and learn what they do” on Wednesday. Instead, he and his teammates on the Randolph Bulldogs had lunch and watched younger kids try out the inflatable slide and obstacle course before practice began.

“They’re not really that good,” Dotro, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, said of the Jets. “I just hope to get better as a player, and I hope I have a good future in football.”

Staff Writer Jane Havsy: 973-428-6682; jhavsy@gannettnj.com; www.dailyrecord.com/writerjane/