Notre Dame’s Matthias Farley watches as a woman tackles a dummy at the Football 101 event, presented by the Kelly Cares Foundation. Evan J. Thomas/The Pit
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] warm Tuesday night in early June was a glorious one at LaBar Practice Complex on the grounds of the University of Notre Dame. Brian Kelly and his wife Paqui were on hand for the sixth edition of the highly touted Football 101 – an event hosted by The Kelly Cares Foundation.
A few hundred women of all ages and backgrounds were in attendance for this awesome event. I got to talk to a few of them before the gates opened and they were just antsy to get in to the LaBar Practice Complex and have some fun.
What is Football 101?
Here is the gist of it: Participants were split into six groups. Current members of the football team and coaches had stations set up. These stations were set up for the ladies to learn the basics of form and technique of passing, catching, kicking, tackling, offensive and defensive techniques.
As the women strolled in they received a bevy of sponsorship goodies including a Notre Dame practice jersey, gift bags, programs and more. The first hour was more a social scene with cocktails and light food served before the training session began.
The training session with the different stations was a blast to watch. The ladies tested their accuracy throwing the football into a net with targets. Quarterback Malik Zaire and wide receiver Corey Robinson were two of the players helping out. The kicking station was fun and one lady said she wouldn’t leave until she made her field goal. Well, she nailed one after a few attempts.
The station that was the most fun to watch was the “tackling” station where Mathias Farley and many other defensive players were motivating the participants to go full out and tackle the “tackling dummies.” Just watching the looks on the faces of everyone was just incredible as they barreled into and tackled the “dummies.” In between the stations everyone was taking photos and selfies with the players and coaches..
Brian and Paqui Kelly and staff did an outstanding job with the event. Seeing how everyone was ecstatic to be a part of it I would say it was a rousing success.
