How the Brian derby Offensiveline Camp came to the Mainland!

Offensive Line Coach Brian Derby Brings
Football Camp to Pacific Northwest

Press Release

Putting it all on the Line… Hawaiian Success Spreads to Mainland

For the past 9 years Coach Brian Derby has given young Hawaiian athletes 22 weekends of his life through his Offensive Line Clinics.  A Honolulu firefighter of 17 years and former University of Hawaii Warrior, Brian has a passion to help big men succeed. After helping over 50 players in Hawai`i reach Collegiate Teams and the NFL, the Brian Derby Offensive Linemen's Camp is coming back to the Pacific Northwest for the 2nd Annual Camp.  The Camps will be held on July 24th to July 28th 2006 in Beaverton and Wilsonville, Oregon.  The camps will be offered to all players age 9 through 22 and will include line specific drills which help to develop sound technique and explosive speed coming off the snap.  The Beaverton Camp will be held at Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District Fields and feature two sessions; ages 9-13 at 9:00 to 11:00 AM and ages 14-22 at 12:30 to 2:30 PM.  The PM Session will be held at Wilsonville High School's new Football Complex and will offer an all-ages camp from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.  Camps are open to all players and are $65.00 for the entire week with scholarships available to any player by request. As a specialty the Camp will feature Speed, Agility, and Quickness work by former PSU Quarterback Matt James, Director of Athletics at the new Velocity Sports in Hillsboro.

Sponsored by Nike and SPARQ, the camp is the first of its kind on the mainland.  Coach Derby is known for his tireless dedication to his students and receives no financial benefit from his camps.  He is credited by many with helping big linemen achieve the quickness and blocking technique to play at the highest level.           

This past year the Derby Camp in Oahu was instrumental in helping 13 young men make it on to Division 1 & 2 Football Scholarships including:

        Micah Kia, 6'5", 305 pounds; Kamehameha; UCLA -- FULL RIDE  
        Ryan Pohl, Oahu, Kamehameha, 6'3", 250 pounds; Oregon State -- FULL RIDE
        Whitley Fehoko; Farrington, 6'2", 335 pounds; San Diego State -- FULL RIDE

Derby was known for his quickness and technique at Hawaii and was considered by many to be one of the very best linemen to come out of that storied program.  The connection to the Pacific Northwest began when Derby played high school ball for Pearl City High School where legendary Oregon State Quarterback and Green Bay Packer Joe Francis was his coach. 

Beaverton, Oregon area youth coach Dirk Knudsen was in Hawai`i in 2002 when he first heard about Derby through an article in the Honolulu Advertiser that displayed the unconventional techniques that Brian employs to get his players moving.  From Medicine Balls to Bungee Cables and Blindfolds, the players are exposed to a variety of techniques to improve.  The father of two linemen himself, Knudsen decided to try and reach Coach Derby.   After many phone calls and several emails, the two finally met and Coach Derby jumped at the chance to come to Portland to work with players here. " The Northwest has always had some great linemen but finding a Line camp is next to impossible.  For Brian to come over and bring his coaches is a real honor!" said Knudsen.  "We worked hard last year, three camps a day in the July heat! Coach Derby came and brought Coach Michael Beazley, former U of H player. We added some local coaches and it made for an awesome camp. The kids loved it and learned a ton. The coaches that came were amazed at his knowledge. Nike was very impressed and we are working with them again this year," Knudsen added.

Through their affiliation, Derby and Knudsen have developed a web site ( www.DerbyCamp.com) which is dedicated to the Offensive Line and Linemen.  As a result the word is out!  In addition to Oregon, camps are planned for Utah and Alaska this year and Washington, California and Texas by next year.  Players from as far away as New Jersey are coming to the Derby Camp in Oregon.

In 2003, Brian Derby was awarded the Neal Shaw Blasidell Award for public Service to the People of Hawaii and is also recognized for his work with Police Activities League.

For applications and information, call Dirk Knudsen at 503-799-8383 or email: Dirk@theknudsens.com. Visit www. DerbyCamp.com for more info.