Sunday April 13th 2025 Josh Downs, Wide Receiver for the Indianapolis Colts, hosted his 2nd annual Josh Downs Youth Camp for kids aged 6-16. Like last year, the event was held at the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. The practice facility is located on the Colts Campus off of 56th Street on the westside of Indianapolis. The Game Day Youth Camp was managed and ran by EQA Skills Camp staff and volunteers.
The kids started arriving a little before 8am to get registered for Josh’s skills camp. The camp itself would be running from 10:30am till 1pm. Kids from all different ages and walks of life piled in the Colts Complex to soak up knowledge and learn some new skills from Colts players Josh Downs, Drew Ogletree and the staff of qualified coaching volunteers. From speaking with both kids and parents, all thought the event seemed to be much better organized this year. One dad told me, “They definitely learned from their mistakes last year.”
The kids were all broken into their respective age groups. The K through 5th grade students were worked on football fundamentals, while the 6th through 11th graders worked on specific position drills. Walking the field, it was nice to see all of the kids engaged and paying attention. I hadn’t seen a group of kids this large not staring at their phones in unison since about 1992. The kids seemed like they were actually there to learn.
After the drills were completed both Josh Downs and Drew Ogletree took questions from the kids and parents at center field on the giant Colts helmet. The kids actually had some really good questions for the Colts players. After the Q&A session both Colts players had told me that they remembered how it felt as a little kid to look up to and follow athletes they adored. They both wanted to give back to the youth of our country, and to our communities. Both of them were very cognizant of their celebrity rolls and how they could easily influence a young fan. I have to applaud Chris Ballard for signing such high character guys. I also think the Downs and the Ogletree’s did a pretty darn good job in raising both of their respective sons. Trust is not easily earned and can be lost in mere seconds. Both Josh Downs and Drew Ogletree took the trust of all those gathered children and proved why they are both true professionals in every sense of the word. I’m looking forward to working at Josh’s camp next year.
That is the Forged Truth from the Meanie!
@BlueMeanieColts
