It was a scene of mixed abilities and mixed ages at Wescott Athletic Complex on Monday and that will continue throughout the week as the Austin football team hosts its Packer football camp for youths entering grades 4-9.

The camp gives youngsters a great chance to meet and learn from varsity football players and they also have a rare chance to work with varsity coaches. They run through drills and even get a few chances to scrimmage throughout the week.

Perhaps the best thing about the camp is that nobody gets left out. The group of almost 100 kids is divided into smaller groups of about 10 and those smaller groups take turn running different drills.

From watching the staff work, it was good to see the Austin football players taking time out of their summer vacation to help out the future generation of football players.

It was also nice to see head coach Matt Schmit tell a youngster who was having a little trouble catching a pass, to catch it like a water balloon. Schmit was later showing another youngster how to properly throw a football.

It’s rare that kids in that age group get a one-on-one tutorial from the varsity head football coach, so hopefully more come out and seize the opportunity.

The camp runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will run through Friday.