PANAMA CITY — Kenny Shaw, a member of the 2013 Florida State national championship football team, has hosted youth camps in Orlando for the past four years.
This year, Shaw decided he wanted to expand the program up north and Saturday hosted his “Shaw is R.A.W” camp at Tommy Oliver Stadium.
“God always leads me to where I want to be and I like to give back to the community and there is no secret that some kids need a route out of their situation,” Shaw said. “As a community guy and a kid once in their shoes, camps like these helped me by getting out among different crowds and strengthening my skill set.”
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Shaw said over 150 kids signed up for the camp which consisted of two sessions, the first for 1st-6th graders and the afternoon session for 7th-12th grade. The campers split into position groups and went through drills to help with technique, footwork, balance ball skills and more.
Shaw and his team enlisted some local help with the addition of Javien Elliott, a Rutherford grad and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers defensive back.
Elliott, a former teammate of Shaw with the Seminoles, said he wished when he was back in high school, camps like this one were available to learn from men who made it and were successful at the next level.
“Panama City is home and I love to help out in any way I can,” Elliott said. “It is hard to get recruited in this area so these kids can’t be satisfied at where they are at and are going to have to work even harder to stand out and get their name out there.”
Shaw said he hopes to come back to Panama City with an even bigger enrollment as long as the community is willing to have him.
“As I mingle with the kids today, it is going to bring me back to do more and hopefully with the help of the city we can have an even bigger show out,” he said.
Banji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.