On July 12, Goshen native Derrick Foster – currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys – will be giving back to his hometown with a free youth football camp. 

Foster was a star athlete at Goshen and went on to play college football at Southwest Baptist University. Since jumping into the coaching ranks, Foster has been a coach at both the college and pro level. He coached running backs and receivers at Northwestern State, served as run game coordinator at Samford and coached the running backs at Iowa.

Foster jumped to the NFL in 2021, coaching the running backs for the LA Chargers. He went on to coach running backs with the New Orleans Saints last year and joined the staff of the Cowboys earlier this year. Some of the running backs that Foster has coached includes Pro Bowlers like Austin Ekeler and Alvin Kamara. He also coached Tyler Goodson at Iowa, who now plays for the Indianapolis Colts. 

Foster will bring that diverse coaching experience back to his home town for the inaugural Derrick Foster Family Foundation Football Camp on July 12.

“I just want to try and give back to the community and also be a light for those young kids that are coming up the same way I did, from the same areas and same walks of life,” Foster said. “A lot of times we’re able to reach and connect with all kinds of people from all kinds of different places through sports. That’s one of the main reasons I’m in the position I am now, because I had positive influences in my life, whether it was coaches or teachers or my parents.” 

Foster said that doing a youth camp in his hometown is something he’s wanted to do for years.

“To be in a position like this, I feel very grateful and blessed and honored that I’m able to do it,” he said. “Me and my best friend, (USC assistant coach) Lonnie Maddox, would talk about doing something like this all time. We just wanted to have something in the summer time, we wished we could have a youth camp to give kids something to look forward to and to get excited about.” 

The camp is free of charge for any child from age five through 15. There will be two different sessions, ages five through eight will begin with registration at 7:30 a.m. Following the first session, ages nine through 15 will take part in the camp beginning at 10:30 a.m. Foster also emphasized that the camp is available for all children, not just Pike County’s youth.

“This is really for anyone,” said Foster. “Anyone that has heard about it – or wants to participate in the camp – this is for you, we’re welcoming all kids from those age groups. We want kids from Goshen and Pike County to come but we’re not just targeting those kids. We want anyone that wants to be here to be here.” 

Foster said that Goshen Head Coach Don Moore and members of his staff will be assisting in the camp along with coaches from neighboring schools, former Goshen players and some of the colleagues that Foster has worked with during his career in coaching. 

“High energy, fun and fundamental teaching,” Foster said of what area children will get from the camp. “We want to get some excitement going and to get out there and do what we love. For me, the development portion of it is big, to try and help young kids that want to pursue football or that are already involved in football. There will be a lot of fun, flying around, high energy and we’re going to have some excitement. We want this thing to be an enjoyable experience. That’s the biggest goal, to make sure each individual has a great experience, has a fun time and that they learn something.”

Foster says it means a lot to him to be able to come back home and give back to his community.

“There really aren’t words to express how that makes me feel,” he said. “I’m a little nervous because it’s the first time but I’m definitely excited and looking forward to this opportunity for everyone to come out. I just want to see the smiles on their faces. I just want all these kids to have a great experience and look forward to trying to continue to do this every year.”

The camp will be held at Eagle Stadium on the campus of Goshen High School on July 12. Parents that would like to register their children online can do so here.