Beckman quarterback Noah Nam offers advice for young football players at free camp

Beckman quarterback Noah Nam gives advice to players at his camp. (Photo courtesy Alan Diaz, ttownsportspics).

Beckman High School quarterback Noah Nam gave back to his community last week, taking the lead role in a free youth football camp for local youngsters ages 10 years old to 15 years old.

“We had about 25 kids, 10 Beckman football players and the Beckman coaching staff that made it out for the first camp, which was great to see,” said Nam, who competed in his first year of varsity football last season. He was first team all-league, the top-rated passer in the league and led Beckman to its first league title in 13 years. The Patriots shared the Lambda League title with Marina and Kennedy,

“The camp last weekend was a great time for coaches, players, and youth athletes alike. It was awesome to come together on a Saturday morning to have fun and connect with each other over the game of football,” he said.

Nam had the idea of a camp because of his past experiences when he was younger.

“I created this camp because when I was little I used to look up to high school and college athletes in the community, and was inspired to play sports and go to certain schools because of camps like these. So, when I realized that Beckman didn’t have a camp where the youth and high school athletes could connect with one another, so I pitched the idea to our head coach. He loved it and we got to work to make it happen,” Nam said.

The idea for the camp began in January.

“Our head coach wanted it to be a free camp, so that it would be more of a community event, so all of the funding came through donations and sponsorships,” Nam said. “I created a team with my fellow players Tomo Bermejo, Roy Chaya and Aidan Tran, and through outreach and connecting with our youth outreach coordinator, Mrs. Amantine, we were able to raise over $4,000 that went into the camp T-Shirts, equipment and lunches for everyone.

“It was a great experience for us and players as we learned how to market this camp and be leaders in our community. We plan to pass this down to the underclassmen and have it be an annual camp for the Beckman football program.”

The camp covered a number of subjects.

“First, we had stations set up to tests the kids’ speed and agility that included a laser-timed 40 yard dash that was led by Coach Ryan Nguyen from RN performance, and 5-10-5 station to name a few,” Nam said. “Then, we moved onto football specific stations like throwing a ball, diving catches onto a crash mat, and running back ladder drills. We moved onto teaching routes and then onto one on ones shortly after.

“Finally, we finished the day off with some 7 on 7 by splitting the kids and coaches up into different teams and having some of the Beckman football players be in charge and call plays for their team.”

Nam and his Beckman teammates will be preparing soon for the 2025 season under Coach Marcello Giuliano.

“Summer has been going great for us,” Nam said. “We have gotten better throughout the course of the offseason and have grown closer as a team which is crucial for success. We’ve gotten a lot of good 7 on 7 scrimmages against some great competition in the area, which only helps us get better on both sides of the ball, and I’m excited to see how far we can go this season.”

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com