Ray Yarbrough coached Lowell to the 2A championship in 2023.

What started as a way for Lowell's football team to brush up on the new nine-man game has quietly evolved into a summer staple for many programs.

Monday through Thursday, Lowell is playing host to a nine-man football camp for the fourth year in a row. Lowell coach Ray Yarbrough started the camp with four teams in 2023 and it has expanded to nine teams this year.

“Now it's pretty big,” said Yarbrough, who coached Lowell to the 2A title in 2023. “There must be something going right. People seem to enjoy it.”

Yarbrough, who also ran a multi-team camp during his tenure as coach at Illinois Valley (2008-14), initially had modest plans for Lowell's camp. He even considered ending the camp after its second year, but popular demand kept it going.

“Every year, I have people getting a hold of me in January and February going, 'Hey, what's going on with the camp? We want to come,'” Yarbrough said. “I actually had to start turning away teams because we don't have the facilities to host a lot more teams.”

The camp not only allows nine-man teams to get four days of valuable scrimmage time, but it gives coaches a chance to trade ideas about the nine-man game, which was introduced at the 2A level in 2022.

“There's a lot of down time at the camp where it's just us coaches hanging out in my wood shop or wherever, so we just talk football,” Yarbrough said. “There's a lot of napkin-drawing plays going on.”

This week, Bandon, Camas Valley, Colton, Corbett, Culver, Gold Beach, Myrtle Point and North Douglas have joined Lowell for the camp. Bandon and Corbett are appearing for the fourth consecutive year.

Teams can scrimmage as part of a 10-day window allowed by OSAA rules. They began practicing last Tuesday to prepare for the camp, which has scrimmages and 7-on-7 play each day.

“I would say you probably get two or three full games, when you add it all up,” Yarbrough said. “For a team like us, if we do that every year, that's another season of football these kids get.”

In recent years, the camp has raised the stakes by splitting the teams into two sides – such as east/west or coast/interior – and played a full game, rotating teams each quarter. The camp also has a “goal-line call-out” every evening after the second session, when teams are chosen to play offense and defense in goal-line situations.

“The whole camp is there watching and cheering everybody on,” Yarbrough said. “People get excited. It gets pretty loud.”

Yarbrough believes the camp teams carry a competitive edge into the season. Seven teams made the state playoffs from last year's camp, including semifinalist Bandon (2A) and quarterfinalists Lowell (2A), Culver (2A), Myrtle Point (2A) and North Douglas (1A).

“I would like to think that camp is a great kick-starter for their season, and it makes them better,” Yarbrough said. “When we start in August, our offense and defense are completely installed.”

The teams stay overnight in Lowell school facilities. They eat together – Lowell's volleyball team serves dinner one night, superintendent Scott Yakovich barbecues on another – and they go swimming at nearby Dexter Reservoir.

The camp fee is $25 per person.

“I'm just trying to make football better for everybody,” Yarbrough said. “It's good for us if other teams are better. It's good for the game of football if kids gets these opportunities.”