PEMBROKE — A pair of grade school girls fumble around a mat, doing their best to mimic the moves they were taught seconds earlier.
Just a few feet away, a set of teenage boys jockey for position before taking a hard tumble onto a separate mat, while college coaches and players motivate and give supervision.
This was the scene that unfolded during a live training session of the seventh annual Johnson Athletics Camps at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke on Monday. UNCP wrestling coach Othello “O.T.” Johnson says the juxtaposition of athletes with varying levels of experience wasn’t by accident.
“We try to get the kids to understand that size doesn’t matter, age doesn’t matter,” he said. “We designed it that way so these young guys can see that, hey, ‘These older guys are doing it. They’re tired just like I am. I can do this.’”
In eight seasons as the Braves head coach, Johnson has molded 25 national qualifiers, 13 All-Americans and three national champions. During that time, he’s dedicated his summers to grooming youth wrestlers of all age groups in Robeson County.
“When I was a young kid, every sport I played I had someone to look up to,” he said.
“To have college athletes around…little kids love it — they get a lot out of it. Especially the local little kids, they see these guys, they come to the events and they’re able to identify with them…so that’s pretty cool.”
The camps feature three different levels of expertise: “Little Braves” (youth), technique and intensive. They all benefit from the instruction of Johnson, with the help of about 40 other counselors composed of past and current wrestlers at the school.
This year, Johnson estimates about 40 campers in total that will take part in the multi-day event that spans from Sunday to Thursday. He says that the smaller numbers create for a special experience for campers, especially for those involved with the higher level of training.
When youth campers depart after the lunch that follows the three-hour morning session, the experienced wrestlers benefit from one-on-one time with one of the counselors. According to Johnson, this wrinkle started a year ago after positive feedback from participants.
“For these high schoolers, they get a chance to see what’s it’s like to train under college campus, under college coaches, with college wrestlers,” he said. “There’s some kids here that are recruitable and we want to see if they can hack after three days of getting after it.”
Among those high school wrestlers in attendance was Purnell Swett’s Derrian Jenkins. The rising senior posted a 10-13 record as junior lightweight last year and though he acknowledges the welcomed instruction he’ll receive at school this season. He also said the camp allows him to be more accountable for his success.
“I want to gain enough technique. I want the experience the most,” said Jenkins. “…This year I want to qualify for state championships and possibly make the nationals during the Olympic season.”
Rams wrestling coach Rashad Saunders watched Jenkins and his teammates finish last in the Sandhills Athletic Conference and the region in his first season with the program. Saunders has vowed not to finish at the bottom this time around and as a former UNCP wrestler and coach under Johnson, he values the extra work in the offseason.
He signed Jenkins and four other Rams wrestlers to the camp in hopes of igniting a culture shift, hardening the group both physically and mentally.
“He knows what he’s doing. He’s cognizant, he has mat awareness — he just needs to put it all together,” Saunders said of Jenkins. “Maybe something will happen in this camp that will make it click for him, and that’s what we’re looking for.
“It gets them to that next level, so that they experience what real training is like…and that monotonous routine you might feel throughout the season, because it’s a long season. It’s just brutal on your body so it’s good to get experience now and say, ‘OK, I’ve been through this, I know how it felt, I can do it again.’”
Meanwhile, Johnson says he’s taken notice of Jenkins and other teammates at various local events over the past two years and has witnessed vast improvement on their part. He added that they are starting to develop and grasp the concepts of dedication and work ethic, hallmarks of the athletes he coaches.
He stressed that the overall goal is to see the wrestling prospects in the county evolve so more athletes can join former Ram Will Deese, who also attended the camp as a child and is now a rising sophomore for the Braves.
“I’m super excited for the local guys. Obviously, right now, we got one Purnell (Swett) kid and we want to increase that to two, three, maybe four,” Johnson said.
“We want to kind of start a riot with the local wrestling with Lumberton, St. Pauls and Fairmont as the programs get to develop. We want to be able to reach and not have to reach too far out to pull guys.”
