HOWELL — It wasn’t that long ago that Mason Nelson was a young football player in Howell looking for any opportunity to improve during the offseason.
Doing so often required taking a road trip.
“When I grew up, I feel like unless you went to a college camp, there weren’t any college camp type things in Livingston County,” he said.
Nelson has helped change that, bringing back the Little Champs youth football camp for its second year Monday, July 7 at Howell High School.
Nelson, a Western Michigan transfer who is finishing his college career at Vanderbilt this fall, will be one of at least 10 current or former college players helping out at the camp.
Among the players are former Howell standouts Bobby Kanka (Michigan), August Johanningsmeier (Western Michigan) and Nolan Nelson (Northwood). The Western Michigan contingent also includes center Jeremy Schleicher, linebacker Domanick Moon, defensive tackle Dalton Gustwiller, tight end Will Gerig and long snapper RJ Todd.
Michigan State punter Carson Voss is a former Western Michigan player taking part in the camp. Former Northwood and Adrian College quarterback Jacob Kelbert is also involved.
“I get really excited about coming back to Howell and doing the camp,” said Mason Nelson, a defensive tackle who transferred to Vanderbilt to improve his stock for the 2026 NFL Draft.
“Howell will always run deep in my blood; Livingston County even. When you’re in high school, you worry about the rivalries of Brighton and Hartland versus Howell, but once you’re out you realize you want to see everyone in Livingston County succeed. The biggest thing is motivating the kids and allowing them to have a good time.”
The camp is open to players who will be in kindergarten through sixth grade this fall. Nelson emphasizes that the camp isn’t only for players from Howell.
“For some reason, a lot of people in Brighton and Hartland think it’s a Howell-only camp,” he said. “We want to see everyone in Livingston County show up. Everyone can show up, no matter where you’re from.”
The early registration cost for the camp is $40. Participants can register the day of the event for $50. A shirt, poster and autograph session are included in the camp, which runs from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Details and registration information are available at littlechampsfootball.com.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Former Howell football stars returning home to put on youth football camp July 7
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
