Football coaches unite for free ‘stop the violence' camp

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Flashing lights and crime scenes have become all too familiar for young people in Jacksonville.

“Every other week, you know, different set of parents crying. Different mothers on the TV pouring their hearts out,” Michael Holloway, coach at Matthew Gilbert Middle School, said.

Holloway and Joseph McCall are trying to curb that trend. They've teamed up with other coaches across the city for a football camp Sunday at Scott Park on the Northside.

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Children can register online here, but it's free of charge.

“I think that's a good idea. I think that's something very positive to do for the kids,” parent Wendy Rushing said.

Several high school football players in our area have been shot and killed. Johnell Johnson, from First Coast High School, and Daryl Mack, from Mandarin High School, are just two of them.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office said there's no current documentation that quantifies crimes committed by young people, but Holloway and McCall agree that something has to be done to save our children.

"We want to deliver a message, you know. We just want our message to be heard not throughout the city but throughout the world and we want all coaches to embrace this because we lose thousands, close to millions, of kids every year to violence. Senseless crimes,” McCall said.

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