East Bakersfield High School played host to Framp Camp this weekend, a traveling training camp for youth that aims to help kids with their game while simultaneously keeping off of the street.
"It's crazy, because you've got NFL players out here, you've got owners of businesses out here," said Team Elevate coach Vince Carter. "And we're all out here for one reason, and that's for the kids and make their dreams a reality."
Framp Camp partnered with Team Elevate, a Stockton-based youth program and with United by the Field, a local organization founded by Richard Rodriguez who wants to bring youth together through sports, regardless of background.
"The idea of [Richard's] is perfect for what it is we're trying to accomplish, which is essentially bringing everybody together and that's kind of what this camp is," said Dwayne Frampton Jr., founder of Framp Camp.
The camp, which finishes on Sunday, hosted kids age 6 through 18. The coaches and trainers from all three organizations said mentoring and helping the youth is their top priority.
"United by the Field doesn't have a color," said Gary Levi Jr., coach at Framp Camp. "It's basically this green grass, that's our color. We all love the game, we all play this sport, so we're united by the field."
Many of the coaches of Framp Camp grew up in tough Los Angeles neighborhoods, and are on a mission to keep youth off the streets.
"It was hard. I'll tell you like that, I knocked my head on a lot of alls trying to figure stuff out for myself," Levi Jr. said.
"But I'm trying to help them understand that there's a way around everything."
"We are living testimonies that there is positive things and people that can come out of the neighborhood," said former NFL player Isaiah Green. "And we just want to show the world."
You can check out the action on Sunday from 8 to 4:30 during the final day of camp. Frampton Jr. and his team will be back in Bakersfield in April and will be partnering with United by the Field for another camp in June.
