RACELAND — Those who walk into Raceland’s gym may be surprised it looks like a shanty town. A shanty town filled with Xboxes and flat-screen televisions, but a shanty town nonetheless.

The reason sleeping bags and air mattresses line the mezzanine is what has become a sort of a holiday event for the residents of Raceland and Worthington.

It’s the opening of “Ram Camp,” which means one thing: football is here and the regular season is right around the corner.

“Our community is a football community,” said Raceland coach T.J. Maynard. “Every night when we’re out there scrimmaging, they’re out there watching. Parents, old Rams are out there watching just to see what we got coming up this year.”

Ram Camp started on Tuesday with a move-in and then lasts until Saturday at 1 p.m. During the week, players practice three times a day and also work in film sessions and meetings.

For Maynard, though, it takes him back to when he was playing at the University of Kentucky.

“I think something like this is important and reminds me of my college days,” he said. “When you’re there for your two-a-days and you’re the only people on campus and basically it forces you to bond as a team, because all you got is each other.”

Senior offensive lineman Doug Abrams is entering his fourth year of Ram Camp.

He’s the perfect example of how the team has bonded through the fact that he’s locked in a gym with more than 40 different guys.

“With camp like this, I made a lot of friends I probably wouldn’t have without the camp,” Abrams said. “I’m kind of forced to spend time with kids I usually wouldn’t, but it’s been a good experience.”  

Devin Thomas is another senior lineman who is experiencing his fourth and final Ram Camp, and his description could hit home for athletes of all ages.

“Lots of work and lots of running,” Thomas said. “But we usually end up more conditioned than most teams and work harder than most teams, too.”

With the idea of running and the old adage of young guys must go through some sort of hazing, Ram Camp might strike fear into the heart of an incoming freshman.

“I’m sure the young kids are worried about getting initiated,” Maynard laughed. “We don’t allow anything like that, but there is a lot of hard work. It’s tough, but it’s something, and I tell them all the time, it’s a necessary evil.

“We try to simulate as much as we can on what’s going to happen on Friday night with conditioning and working. But as much as we do, you can’t.”

And while the players know it’s work, they know Maynard has their best interest, and the season’s best interest, in mind.

“The coaches definitely test you to see how far they can push you to see who they can count on Friday night,” Abrams said. “We get to function living together as one unit before we transition into playing together.”

But Ram Camp is not all about football. There is also the down time and more importantly for the players, the food.

All the grub comes from the Raceland booster club.

“The booster club has been great to us so far,” Abrams said. “I like to sleep and I like to eat and the food has been great so far.”

Players are provided with breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late-night snack. The booster club and volunteering parents provide all the meals except for breakfast.

Parents even come out to the high school in shifts to help take care of the boys, which helps allow Maynard to focus solely on coaching.

“They’re invaluable for what they do, and it’s not just team camp, it’s what they do the whole year for us,” Maynard said. “It enables us as coaches for us to focus on the important part of coaching. They provide us not only the help to do something like this, but they provide us financially with the items we need to make our football program better.”

Maynard is in his third year as the Rams’ head coach, but Ram Camp was established before he took the reins at Raceland. Training camp is always essential, though, including at his previous head coaching stop at Greenup County.

But with the Musketeers, he would take his team to a different location. But the key to Ram Camp is that Raceland stays at home where the team is comfortable.

Plus Ram Camp has become a big part of that football community in Raceland.

“We have everything we need right here,” Maynard said. “It’s really special at night, to see former players come out. They’re here and they’re evaluating you. They’re going home and giving a scouting report on you and what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.

“It’s nice to have that interest from and the support from the community and from the parents and it what makes Raceland football special.”

KYLE HOBSTETTER can be reached at khobstetter@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2658.