Two hundred hundred youth football players stretched at Levi’s Stadium, the home field of the San Francisco 49ers, when their sloppy windmill exercises got Tolo Faumuina barking.
“Come on! This is where the big dawgs play! Let’s get ready! Let’s get them eyes to the sky!”
Getting kids eyes off the street – and the trouble that’s often found there – has been Faumuina’s gig for a long time. “I don’t know if people know it, but the streets are a dangerous place.”
Youth football players with the West Coast Islanders take instructions during the Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday, July 16, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
He should know. The former Sacramento State football player grew up in San Francisco in the Double Rock projects near Candlestick Park, the 49ers prior home. The lack of youth opportunities in the neighborhood led him to found the West Coast Islanders youth football organization in Hayward six years ago.
Saturday, the Islanders and other invited youth groups spent the day practicing on the turf where Kyle Shanahan’s crew beat the Los Angeles Rams six short months ago to begin their latest playoff run.
“The kids just lit up when they heard we were going to Levi’s Stadium,” said Faumuina. “We want to get them active. Get them moving. Give them something to do besides video games.”
Ranging in age from 5-18 years old, the athletes ran drills in the hot July sun while their proud parents watched from field-level seats on the 50-yard line.
No video game devices were seen throughout the day.
Tolo Faumuina directs the Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara Calif., Saturday, July 16, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Tolo Faumuina, founder of the West Coast Islanders. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) West Coast Islanders stretch, “eyes to the sky,” at the Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) West Coast Islanders run drills at their Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) West Coast Islanders run drills at their Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Youth footballers with West Coast Islanders run drills during the Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Youth footballers with West Coast Islanders run drills during the Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) Parents of youth footballers watch as the West Coast Islanders hold their Fall Camp Kick Off at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara Calif., Saturday, July 16, 2022. More than 200 youth football players from other youth organizations joined the Islanders to practice on the home field of the San Francisco 49ers. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
