(Pictured, L-R: Cooper, Peyton, Alex Hornibrook from Wisconsin, Eli and Archie Manning.)
 
The 23rd edition of The Manning Passing Academy took place June 21-24 on the campus of Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, La. The academy, which has attracted many of the top players in college football history, has one simple goal: to make the game more enjoyable for high school players.
 
"I think we continue to accomplish our mission, which is to enhance the high school experience for young quarterbacks and receivers," said Archie Manning, the chairman of the National Football Foundation and the executive director of the camp. "It's not to make them into college players and certainly not pro players but to help them with their skills, their leadership qualities, their knowledge of nutrition and hydration, character, work habits, the cerebral part of football. The kids who come to our camp want to play high school football, and we want their experience to be a good one."
 
Every year, the camp enlists the top college players in the nation who serve as counselors, helping mentor the young attendees, and this year was no exception with a list of stars who included Jake Browning (Washington), Nick Fitzgerald(Mississippi State), Jake Fromm (Georgia), Jarrett Guarantano (Tennessee), Alex Hornibrook (Wisconsin), Jalen Hurts (Alabama), Drew Lock(Missouri), Trace McSorley (Penn State), Mckenzie Milton (UCF), Jarett Stidham (Auburn), Kahlil Tate (Arizona) and Brandon Wimbush (Notre Dame). .
 
Hornibrook won the Quarterback Challenge, which included the "Air-It-Out" throwing exhibition where he distinguished himself as the only counselor to hit three moving golf carts. For his exploits he took home a signed autographed helmet with the Mannings' signatures. The stars also took home valuable insights and memories.
 
"The Mannings are first class people," McSorley told Greg Pickel of PennLive.com after this year's camp. "Being able to be around guys like Peyton and Eli; they have the experience, and obviously their future Hall of Famers, and being able to be around that, and just absorb anything from that and learn about those guys and how a week of preparation would be, and then Cooper [Manning] is awesome; it was an awesome experience, and then being around all the college guys and learning about them outside of football. That was a cool thing, meeting guys and getting to know them off the field."
 
The camp started in 1996 at Tulane University in New Orleans with 185 participants, and this year marked the 14th edition at Nicholls State with more than 25,000 players reached since the event's inception. When the camp started in 1996, Peyton, the 1997 NFF William V. Campbell Trophy® winner, was a junior at Tennessee. Eli, a 2003 NFF National Scholar-Athlete from Ole Miss, was a sophomore at Isidore Newman High School, and Manning's oldest son Cooper had just graduated from Ole Miss. Buddy Teevens, the current head coach at Dartmouth, was head coach at Tulane, and Jeff Hawkins, the current senior associate athletics director at Oregon, was a recruiting coordinator for Teevens. Manning, his sons, Teevens and Hawkins have been the driving force behind the camp's success since its inception.
 
"Archie Manning and his sons Cooper, Peyton and Eli have really set the standard for camps," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "Throughout the past 23 years, they have created a meaningful experience for thousands of high school players, ensuring that they are exposed to all the key ingredients for success. We want to pay tribute to the Mannings and everybody involved with the camp for the impact that they have had, which we are sure will continue well into the future."
 
This year also marked an inaugural two-day camp for women and girls, which followed the traditional clinic. Dubbed The Manning Passing Academy Women and Girls Football Clinic and Camp, the event hopes to encourage more girls and women to play and coach football. More than 200 participants attended, learning skills, drills, tactics and the basic rules of the game. Speakers included representatives from the NFL and NCAA, and the coaches came from the numerous women's professional tackle football leagues that have sprouted up around the nation in recent years.
 
"It was a great experience," said Latashia Wise, who currently coaches a nearby local high school volleyball team in Morgan City, La., to Houmatoday.com. "It really opens up the game of football for females to play, something that most people don't think is possible but is. We got to meet different people and talk to some professional players and some retired ones. You have been hearing about the Manning Passing Academy forever for the guys and to be a part about the first one for females was pretty cool."