DEER LAKE ­- The great Muhammad Ali used it to prepare for some of his biggest fights.

On Wednesday, historic ‘Fighter’s Heaven’ showcased the next generation of athletes ready to step up to the challenge when the bell rings.

The site of Ali’s famous training camp was the destination for the annual Schuylkill County Football Coaches Association Media Day.

Drenched in history and serving as the embodiment of greatness, the location in rural Deer Lake was the perfect place to help usher in the 2022 football season.

“I know I talk about it every year, but our brand of football in Schuylkill County is now on the map. It’s definitely on the map,” SCFCA president and Schuylkill Haven head coach Mike Farr said while standing inside the ring at the facility. “I think for a lot of years we kind of struggled...we didn’t get a lot of the respect that we deserved. But I guarantee you today that ... at the state level, a lot of people talk about Schuylkill County football.

“That’s all about all these players, all these coaches, everything. You carry the tradition for our brand of tough football players. So what better venue than Fighter’s Heaven to have all you guys at.”

The annual event featured area teams Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Marian, Panther Valley and Tamaqua - all hoping to serve as contenders this fall.

“There’s a lot of excitement around the team, around our program right now. We’re looking forward to it,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. “The summer went well. We’re excited about the work ethic that our players showed over the summer, so we’re definitely looking forward to opening night in a few weeks.”

While each program has taken a different path to get there, they have each embraced the journey along the way.

“We’ve been very consistent,” Marian mentor Stan Dakosty said of the team’s work during the summer months. “I think we became a bigger football team, I think a stronger football team. And I think, more importantly, I think we really have great chemistry. In addition to building their strength and their speed, I think it was a very important offseason in that sense as well.

“Everybody is undefeated at this point in time, but we’re in a good spot right now. The kids have a great attitude. The thing I like is that they like playing football. And you might say, ‘Everybody who goes out for football likes to play football.’ But it’s tough. It’s a grind. And they come in and they have a great attitude every day, and that’s what you love to see.”

The Olympians won four of their final five regular season games in 2021, and carried that momentum into the postseason where they knocked off Notre Dame Green Pond in the district playoffs.

After a winless start, the Colts closed with four straight victories.

“That was major,” Dakosty said of the winning streak. “It changed the whole mindframe. We were such a young football team - we’re still a young football team. We have 37 players, and only four are seniors. So it’s still a process. But those underclassmen that are now juniors have been starting for three years. So a lot of our younger guys have been starting for two or three years and they have experience, but we’re still young. So we’re excited about not only this year, but the future of the program as well.”

The future also looks bright for Jim Thorpe.

“We have 50 varsity players right now. Our young kids, our junior high, we have almost 50 kids in seventh and eighth grade,” Rosenberger said. “So we’re excited about the numbers down there as well. The numbers are strong in Jim Thorpe, that’s for sure.”

While Jim Thorpe and Marian will look to build on their late-season momentum, Tamaqua, Lehighton and Panther Valley will look for fresh starts after combining for just four wins last season.

“It’s always exciting,” said Blue Raiders head coach Sam Bonner. “We had over 100 offseason workouts, so you get to that point where it’s like, ‘We did everything we could possibly do to prep for this.’ So you look forward to getting the shoulder pads and helmets on and next week going full pads. It’s definitely something that you’re looking forward to come this time of year.

“We had a really good turnout (in the offseason). We had a lot of young guys buying into it, we have a nice size freshmen class. I think some of those younger guys who were coming around for us at the end of last year, they really bought into the offseason program this year. Guys like Declan Coleman, Luke Kane, Connor Dillon, guys that I thought worked their tails off in the offseason. There are some younger guys that are going to make some headway this year.”

Tamaqua posted back-to-back wins over Pen Argyl and Salisbury last season, and recorded a victory against Panther Valley at the end of the year.

The Indians earned their only win of the season against the Blue Raiders in Week 2 last fall. They have enjoyed a productive offseason heading into camp, one that has a different feel than recent years.

“I’m very excited, probably as excited as I’ve been in a lot of years,” said Lehighton head coach Tom McCarroll. “Our offseason approach and mentality has been completely different from the last couple of years - in a very good way. I think the kids have really bought into what they need to do to try and get back on track.

“They’re very aware of what our record has been and what our struggles have been, and I think we take that very personally coming into the season. We laid out exactly what needs to be done. There is a blueprint. There’s a blueprint for success. It’s not easy, but I think the kids have done the things to follow that blueprint and hopefully that equates to more wins and more success for us.”

While the approach might be different, McCarroll and his staff leave no stone unturned in what they can do to help their programs - and others.

“We actually have a really really cool event that we’ve established at our place at the end of June, where this past year we had 20 schools come to our place and do 7-on-7s,” said McCarroll. “It’s not a competition, but it’s just kind of a passing day, and teams kind of come there to get some work.

“But in July of this past year, we got ourselves, Panther Valley, Marian and Northern Lehigh all together as complete teams and we did a lot of 11-on-11 stuff. Real controlled, but we can do some things where, as you know, 7-on-7, you’re very limited in terms of what you can do, so now you get an opportunity to get all the teams involved, get the linemen involved ... and understanding that everything that we were doing really was for the benefit of all the teams involved. We got a little bit of the competitive juices going. At the end of the day, it was a really good opportunity to do some things differently than we’ve done before.”

Mark Lavine takes over for Rick Jones at Panther Valley.

“It’s been really positive,” said Lavine. “The kids bought in right away. From early weightlifting on they did not miss - and the kids that were playing other sports made sure that they got in there. Our senior leadership is going to be really good. Those kids work hard, they don’t miss.

“And then the younger group, I’ve had all these kids in class. I’ve taught them all so I’m familiar with them, and that’s a positive. So there wasn’t a tough transition of getting to know each other - which I think has helped.”

Lavine, who is a teacher in the district, brings a wealth of experience to the position and a strong connection to the program, which is his alma mater.

He has worked with other Panther Valley coaches, such as Pat Crampsie (basketball), Rich Evanko (baseball) and Paul McArdle (track and field) - all Panther Valley graduates, to continue pushing each program forward.

“We’re trying to push more sports, not make it more exclusive,” Lavine said. “You only have so many athletes so you have to share them.”

PV has benefited from offseason activities such as the North Schuylkill Challenge, a passing scrimmage against Tamaqua, and the event at Lehighton in late July.

The Panthers began the heat acclimatization period with 35 players, most of whom have been working with the squad throughout the offseason.

“We were pretty happy with that,” said Lavine. “Obviously, you always want more, but we were kind of hoping for mid-30s, and the kids we thought were going to be there are here. We want to go with kids who want to be part of our program. They’re kids who came in the summer and worked hard with us and learned what we’re doing and were part of the program last year. We didn’t lose kids, we actually got some additional kids out, so that’s positive. Hopefully we can continue that every year.”

All five area teams will step between the ropes for Round 1 of the season on Friday, Aug. 26.