Don Jones and Jim Callerame will probably be at McKenzie Stadium on Saturday to observe their sons play in the highschool soccer state semifinals.
Ayden Jones is an all-league defensive lineman for Camas, which is able to face Gonzaga Prep in a 4A state semifinal at 1 p.m. at McKenzie Stadium.
Joe Callerame is the Trico League MVP for Seton Catholic, which meets Montesano in a 1A state semifinal at 4 p.m. at McKenzie Stadium.
However Don Jones and Jim Callerame will really feel like they’ve plenty of sons on the sector Saturday at McKenzie.
The 2 fathers are a part of a particular hyperlink between the final two Clark County applications nonetheless alive. It’s a hyperlink that goes again greater than a decade.
In all, 17 gamers from the Camas and Seton groups grew up taking part in Pop Warner soccer collectively on groups coached by Don Jones and Jim Callerame.
For Camas, that features Jaxon Goode, Jake Davidson, Anthony Forner, Jared Forner, Ayden Jones, Sawyer Clifton, Titan Brody, Nikko Speer, Jack Macdonald, Chase McGee and Thor Brody.
For Seton, it contains AJ Bradshaw, Joe Callerame, Jacob Williams, Garrett Nebels, Lukas Morse and Thomas Clute.
The primary 12 months Don Jones coached a number of gamers was in 2014, when the gamers have been 7 or 8.
“The kids were absolutely awesome, and they loved to play football, even as little kids,” Jones recalled. “They were easy to coach, and the parents let us be coaches.”
Jim Callerame, who coached older ranges of Pop Warner soccer, took over teaching the gamers in 2017.
“I remember that team just had a spark,” Callerame mentioned. “There were like X-factor kids on that team. And I know it sounds like I’m saying that now looking back. But that defense I coached was probably the best defense I had ever coached. And remember thinking that at the time.”
These groups had plenty of success and gained plenty of video games. Nevertheless it was the personalities of the gamers that stick most with each coaches.
“Jacob Williams is an outstanding human being,” Jones mentioned. “His dad DeShawn played at Oregon State, so he’s got that pedigree. But I knew in that first year Jacob played football, he just had this mentality. He was unstoppable. And he’s just a good kid.”
Callerame remembers taking part in a sport in opposition to a smaller crew that was clearly overmatched by his personal.
“I told the kids if you get (an interception), just run out of bounds,” Callerame recalled. “We’re not going to blow them out. It was a character thing. And one of the first plays they run on offense, this kid runs the ball and Titan (Brody) came up and smashed him at the line and pulled the ball out of his hands. The play happened right in front of me, so Titan looked right at me. He kind of shrugs his shoulders then he gave the ball back to the kid and tackled him. It was the cutest moment I’ve ever seen from the toughest kid on the field.”
In 2019, Callerame as head coach and Jones as an assistant, the East County/Camas Pee Wee Jets Pop Warner crew introduced all along with a dozen present Seton and Camas gamers on the roster.
“That’s one thing I try to instill in the kids when they’re young,” Jones mentioned. “Football, it’s a brotherhood. And when they get together for reunions or whatever — and I know to the kids that seems a long way away — but when they get together, they won’t talk about baseball or wrestling. They are going to talk about football. Because football creates a brotherhood. It doesn’t matter if you go to Seton. It doesn’t matter if you go to Camas. You’ll always have that brotherhood. It’s like a family.”
Jones mentioned final week after Camas beat Arlington in a state quarterfinal at Doc Harris Stadium within the afternoon, a number of gamers returned to observe Seton Catholic play Life Christian in a 1A quarterfinal that night at Doc Harris.
Callerame added that when Seton had a first-round bye two weeks in the past, a number of Cougars went to observe Camas beat Curtis.
“They are a little family, man,” Callerame mentioned. “That group stays in contact. They’ve got a strong love for each other. I think you’ll see some of that this weekend.”
Whereas each groups have hopes to advance to the state finals subsequent week at Husky Stadium, Saturday would be the final time Don Jones and Jim Callerame will be capable of watch their former gamers on the sector in Clark County.
“It’s been an emotional rollercoaster for me,” Callerame mentioned. “I could not be prouder of any one of these kids. Every time you bring up a name — Nikko Speer, Jacob Williams, Garrett Nebels, any name — I just get filled with pride. When I finished my last youth game a couple of weeks ago with my youngest son, I was giving a speech to the team. … And for the first time, I actually started to tear up. I told the kids ‘This isn’t about you.’ This is about this whole thing. It’s ending, right? That’s how I feel now. I’m super proud, and at the same time, I’m super sad that it’s ending.”
Jones has an analogous feeling.
“I have nothing but good things to say about the Seton boys,” Jones mentioned. “They’re great kids. And they and the Camas kids, they’ve all come a long way. And I think as someone who is a coach and a parent, you can sit back and just be proud of that. You can say, hey, I coached these kids.”