Pasadena camp schools kids on more than basics

The kids hadn't even started practicing and they were already sweating on a hot, sticky Thursday night.

Dark patches formed on the chest and back of their identical gray T-shirts, which all read, "Every Play, Every Day," across the front. Upon the blast of an air horn, they surrounded Donny English, the event coordinator of the Maryland Middle School Combine, a football camp held last week at Lake Waterford Park in Pasadena.

As they nonchalantly plopped down in the grass, English jolted them to attention and gave no illusions as to what the next four days would bring.

"Whenever someone's speaking,...