The History of the Pine Forest Football Camp
In 1967 Jerry
Preschutti was working at a football camp and at that time he
thought it would be a good idea to start one of his own the
following year. With that thought in mind he was given the name of
Mr. Marvin Black who was the owner of Pine Forest Camp. He called
and set up an appointment for the purpose of asking him if he could
use the Pine Forest Camp facility to run a football camp. Jerry was
23 years old and coaching football at Temple University. Mr. Black’s
name was given to him by Bob Buckanavage who was a counselor at the
camp in the summers and also a football teammate of Jerry’s at
Temple University in the early 60’s.
Mr. Black was
kind enough to meet with Jerry and three days later Mr. Black called
Jerry and said he was going to let him run the camp. In June of 1968
Pine Forest Football Camp was launched and it has been going strong
for the past 41 years. It is now the longest running football camp
in the country.
Over the past 41
years the structure of the camp has changed in that when the camp
was first started college coaches were allowed to work the camp
along with both high school and professional coaches. Mr. John
Petercuskie who was an assistant at Dartmouth University at the time
was the person most instrumental in working with Jerry and providing
the names of the college/pro coaches who would work the camp. When
Jerry’s Dad passed away in 1969, Coach Petercuskie helped build a
strong coaching fraternity that included past and present college
and NFL coaches. Coming to the Pine Forest Football Camp in the
middle of June every year became a wonderful tradition where many
strong friendships were made.
In the mid 80’s
the NCAA came out with a ruling that college coaches could no longer
work at camps structured like Pine Forest and the format changed to
only having high school coaches instruct. In 1990 one of Jerry’s
close friends, Coach Stu Casterline, became the camp director due to
the fact that the Pine Forest Cheerleading Camp was growing and
Jerry had to devote most of his time to that endeavor. Stu had
worked the camp for years and knew all about the program and
tradition that was associated with the operation. In 1998 a
decision was made by the Preschutti family that Craig Preschutti
would take over as director of the camp. Craig was 28 years old at
the time but had been brought up attending the camp since he was
born. He knew what was expected and about the family pride and
tradition that was always associated with Pine Forest Football
Camp. From 1998 to the present Craig continues to run the camp and
partners with outstanding high school coaches who now form the heart
of the camp (see related item for the 2008 staff). These coaches
are very knowledgeable about the game of football and the emphasis
is on providing technique instruction for all positions.
The players who
attend the Pine Forest Football Camp receive excellent instruction
in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The coaches, who represent
some of the finest high school programs in Northeast, PA., get to
know the players on a first name basis and share in the philosophy
of each camper having a positive camp experience. The fundamentals
of football are thoroughly covered. Pine Forest Football Camp is A
TEACHING CAMP and NOT A RECRUITING CAMP. That is one of the things
that separates it from the rest and one of the reasons why high
school coaches keep sending their players.
At the present
time, in addition to the Pine Forest Football Camp, the Preschutti
family, which includes Jerry, Jr, now operates the Pine Forest
Cheerleading Camp at three different locations with 13sessions. It
has become the largest cheerleading camp in the country. We have
over 40 years of experience in instructing and caring for thousands
of campers who attend our football and cheerleading camps every
year.
From a dream in
1967 to a reality today the Pine Forest Football Camp is still going
strong.
