Round Lake mom raises $2,500 in three weeks for son's football camp

Determined to raise the money needed for her 14-year-old son to attend an elite, invitation-only football camp on the East Coast, a Round Lake Beach mom held a car wash, put out collection jars and organized other small fundraisers, raising $2,500 in three weeks.

Thanks to the community's generosity and Tina Nicholas-Williams' tenacity, her son, Kyle Smith — a 6-foot 232-pound incoming freshman at Round Lake High School — reported to Football University's TOP GUN Camp in Williamsburg, Va., Monday.

Nicholas-Williams, 39, said the family learned just one month ago that Kyle had been selected for the camp, where hundreds of college recruiters scout the country's top high school players.

However, the College of Lake County paralegal student and mother of two said she didn't have the $625 needed to pay for the three-day camp, much less the gas money, lodging and meals they'd need to drive back and forth. They'd already spent nearly $1,000 on Kyle's regional Football University camp in Chicago the month before, she said.

So Nicholas-Williams set out to raise the money somehow, motivated by the hope that activities like the TOP GUN camp along with his continuing efforts throughout high school could ultimately help her son land a football scholarship and help pay for his college education.

“We really push that education is number one, so the scholarship is a big, big deal for me. It's what we're hoping for,” she said, adding that her son plans to study graphic design in college. “This is his foot in the door, and not many people get this opportunity. I told my husband, let's just try to fundraise. If we can make this money, we can go.”

And they did. With help from friend and neighbor Marcia Donahue, Nicholas-Williams organized a bunch of small fundraisers in a three-week time span: a car wash, a poker tournament, collection jars in local businesses, and a donation request letter to 60 companies. She also sold her baseball card collection and solicited funds via Facebook. Some people donated gas cards, she said.

Football University is one of many football camps around the U.S. that courts high school athletes and attracts college recruiters. At FBU, the regional summer camps draw 8,000 players, and of those, only 800 from around the U.S., Canada and Europe are invited to the TOP GUN camp, FBU marketing director Joe Bouffard said. FBU uses NFL-level coaches to teach both fundamentals and leadership, and it produces the annual high school all-star game, the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which is televised on NBC.

“At this age, they're slowly getting on the (scouts') radar,” Bouffard said of the 14-year-old Smith. “This camp is training them to go back to the high school and excel.”

Nicholas-Williams said she's grateful her son has this opportunity and appreciates the generosity people showed toward her family.

“There was a lot of generosity here, and it really did come from the unexpected. Even if they could only give us $5 for a car wash, they did it,” she said.

Nicholas-Williams and her two sons (she also brought her 11-year-old) arrived in Virginia late Sunday. Her husband, Rich, a plumber, stayed behind to work.

At the camp Monday, Nicholas-Williams said they've already spotted several NFL players, representatives from Gatorade and Adidas, and the son of rapper Snoop Dogg, who is a high-school football player.

“(Kyle) doesn't really understand what I did. He said 'Thank you,' he's given me hugs, but does any 14-year-old truly appreciate anything?” she said, laughing. “I think I'll get my thank you when he's in his 20s.”