MILITARY & VETERANS AFFAIRS
NEWS RELEASE

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kryn P. Westhoven at 609-530-6950 / cell 609-847-2215 or

Sgt. Wayne Woolley at 609-530-6942/cell 732-804-6782

By Sgt. Wayne Woolley, NJDMAVA/PA

     One of the highest compliments a football coach can get is that his team “moved with military precision.”

 

      Steinert High School Head Coach Dan Caruso might hear a lot of that this season.

 

      His players actually went to a military installation in order to hold part of their preseason camp away from their campus in Hamilton Township and found themselves nose-to-nose with New Jersey Army National Guard Soldiers who led some of their conditioning drills.

 

      “It was intense,” said Vince Fiorello, a senior defensive back. “With their help, we pushed ourselves harder than any training camp I've been a part of.”

 

      And that was the big reason the Steinert Spartans found themselves at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt on some of the hottest days at the end of August.

 

      The way the team got to Sea Girt -- perhaps the most unusual training camp location of any high school in New Jersey -- is the story of the relationships built over the last several years by Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Vega, an Army National Guard recruiter based in Lawrenceville.

 

      Vega's recruiting rounds bring him to high schools with regularity and he said he always pays special attention to the coaches and players on the sports teams.

 

      “Kids who play sports are the kind of kids who usually do well in the military,” Vega said. “They're fit, understand team work and they're competitive.”

 

      So it was on a visit to Steinert nearly a year ago that Vega had a conversation with one of the assistant football coaches who put an idea in his head.

 

      “He was kind of thinking out loud, saying how great it would be to have training camp at a place with no distractions – like a military base,” Vega said. “I told him: ‘I think I can help.'”

 

      It took several months of coordination, but by late August, everything was set for the players to report to Sea Girt for training camp.

 

      For a week, the players lived like Soldiers, sleeping in the barracks and taking their meals at the base “chow hall.” On the nearby fields, the coaches were in charge of the ‘X's and ‘O's and called all the shots during the two-a-day practices and nighttime meetings.

 

      But Vega and a few of the other recruiters helped with conditioning exercises, including a long early morning session on the beach that included a three-mile run and a lot of pushups and flutter kicks in the sand.

 

      “They looked like sugar cookies when we were done,” Vega said.

 

      Although the upcoming football season was the players' focus during their week at Sea Girt, they had plenty of time to soak in the military life.

 

      “I know there are some guys who are thinking more about (joining) after this week,” said Nicki Maciolek, 16, senior defensive back and running back. “Especially when they hear how much money they can get for college.”