Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco stops in Joplin for youth football camp | KSNF/CODE

JOPLIN, MO — The weather wasn’t perfect, but that didn’t stop Isiah Pacheco from hosting his Youth Football Camp at Joplin High School earlier today.

Before the camp, Isiah took some time to autograph some memorabilia that was sold at the camp.

Once he went to greet the crowd, he erupted, because it’s not every day you get to meet a two-time Super Bowl Champion Running Back, but today, over 500 kids got that opportunity.

Ages ranged from 6 to 16, and the kids spent the camp going through various offensive and defensive drills coached by volunteer coaches.

The kids at the camp also got a chance to take a picture with Isiah and play a little 7-on-7 with him, also Isiah being the all-time quarterback.

Pacheco’s camp is a series of camps that the company FlexWork Sports Management organizes around the country. This is the second year they have camped with Pacheco in Joplin.

We caught up with camp director Willie Martinez about connecting communities and athletes, as well as a few little campers about what their favorite part of camp was.

Flexwork Sports Camp Director Willie Martinez said, “Oh, it’s great. It is a blessing. It is truly a blessing. Like Isiah, he comes in here and it’s not just the camp to say, ‘Hey, you’re going to babysit these kids for a few minutes, or you’re going to let them run.’ We’re trying to provide quality, to teach these kids something. But not only that, but we just appreciate knowing that he won’t get the chance to meet these kids. These kids may not meet a special athlete in their lives. So when he comes here, he spends time with each of them. He plays one on one. He’s taking a picture with everyone and just making sure everyone’s having fun.”

Second-grader Lincoln Kosar and 5th-grader Max Kosar said, “I’ll probably play seven-on-seven with Pacheco. You know, like him just hanging out with you and all the fun exercises and yeah.”

Sixth graders Davian Davis and Jax Gard said, “It was so much fun. It was fun because we got to see it. We got to play a whole scrimmage and he was like a quarterback and all that. And I like to do the exercises and everything that the coaches have prepared for us”.