ROCKINGHAM — Giving back to their home community is always one of the biggest highlights on the calendar for Dannell and Shervella Ellerbe.
Both Richmond County natives, the husband and wife duo put on another free USA Football FUNdamentals camp at Richmond Senior High School Saturday.
With 120 campers from Richmond and surrounding counties participating, the annual camp returned to Richmond’s practice fields to celebrate its 10th edition.
The camp was held for the second straight year after a three-summer hiatus due to the pandemic.
On hand to help provide instruction were several of Ellerbe’s friends and former teammates from Richmond Senior, college and the NFL.
The 2024 coaching staff consisted of Jeff Chestnut, Alex Coulthard, Quan Ellerbe, Zoe Ellerbe, Quinten Gore, Sammy Houston, Steven Houston, Chris Ingram, Wayne Lomax, Jason Ratliff, Von Smith, Lee Turner and Kade Weston.
Several members of the Richmond football program assisted with drills and stations, while the Richmond Beta Club helped with registration and kept campers hydrated.
The three-and-a-half hour camp featured a series of stations that rotated local youth players through a plethora of drills.
Ellerbe, a two-time Super Bowl champion linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles, migrated from group to group to offer encouragement and join in on the fun.
Broken into four age groups — 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17 — campers started the day with an assortment of conditioning, footwork, agility and cardio workouts.
Throughout the morning, stations progressed to tackling drills, fumble recoveries, scoop-and-scores, receiving and route running, and other position-specific workouts.
What has become the camp’s staple as its final activity, campers competed in the “Fastest Man” race by age group. Lining up on the goal line, each group raced a 50-yard dash to determine the winner.
Breaking it down one last time as an entire group, Ellerbe offered one final message — to work hard on and off the field, including at home and in the classroom.
At the conclusion of the camp, Ellerbe recognized several campers for three different categories in each age group — Hardest Worker, Leadership and Fastest Man.
Levi Covington (6-8), Antonio Dumas (9-11) and Damarion Allen (12-14) were each awarded Hardest Worker and Fastest Man for their respective age group.
Two Richmond Senior football players were recognized for the 15-17 age group — Ahajujuan Ewing (Hardest Worker) and Nyjier Allen (Fastest Man).
Receiving the Leadership trophies were Camden Mills (6-8), Isaiah Ratliff (9-11), Crew Griffith (12-14) and Gavin McIntyre (15-17).
Lunch was provided to all campers while Ellerbe and others signed autographs and took pictures.
Shervella Ellerbe expressed that the program will be expanding next year and hold a second free camp in Florida. She said because of the “beautiful team” of helpers each year, more delegation can be done to host two camps.
Another initiative in the coming year will be to do more fundraising for The Ellerbe Family Foundation, which is part of the Players Philanthropy Fund.
The Ellerbes also thanked all of the sponsors which contributed to make the camp happen — BodyArmor, Crystal Springs, Donley Construction, Esskay, Evolve with Vella, Geresbeck’s, Hibbett Sports, Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls and Bread, Schmidt, Utz and Walmart.
Below are photos of Saturday’s camp, taken by sports editor Kyle Pillar.
