Hartselle High School cheerleaders teach cheers to campers at Hartselle First Assembly of God’s Mega Sports Camp Saturday at HHS. | Joy Haynes

Hartselle First Assembly of God hosted a Mega Sports Camp Saturday for area kids to learn speed and agility.

Pastor Jess White said this was their first year to host a Mega Sports Camp, which is a program set up by Assemblies of God as a community outreach program.

“This camp was a product of our outreach class and our children’s ministry,” White said. “Hartselle is a sports town with a lot of great kids, and we wanted to invest in the area children both spiritually and physically. We are very proud of our town’s rich sports tradition, and we thought this was a good way for us to connect to families in Hartselle.”

The camp lasted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., teaching speed and agility techniques as well as cheerleading to 5-12-year-olds. The camp wrapped up with a lunch and a spiritual message.

Hartselle High School defensive lineman coach Brad Bray helped direct the camp and helped with the speed and agility training. Dave Jacobs of c360 led training along with Carmen Torres of Benders Gym and Parisi Speed School.

White said the camp focuses on speed and agility that would be utilized in every sport rather than picking an individual sport. They hope to see it grow since they plan on continuing the camp next year.

“We were expecting about 200 kids, and we would have had about that many or more, but the youth football teams weren’t able to make it like they planned,” White said. “We hope to have a least a couple hundred next time, because we definitely plan on doing this again. Our trainers were more than happy to do this with us, and we’ve had a good turnout despite the wet weather.”

The camp was planned to take place on the football practice field at Hartselle High School, but Saturday’s rain moved it into the indoor practice facility.