CIAA holds football clinic for Durham middle-school athletes

Kate Rogerson Image
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
CIAA holds football clinic for Durham middle-school athletes

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) officially opened the 2025 football season with its annual football media day on Tuesday in Durham.

Durham is the new host city of the CIAA football championship.

At Hillside High School on Tuesday, the CIAA put on a clinic for children in grades three through eight.

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"I just want them to know that college is attainable," said Lamar Manigo, the first-year football head coach at Shaw University. "They see some young men that probably went into the process, went to camps, went to high school, and made it to college level. To see those guys, to see them perform, and want to do the same thing one day."

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The recent stormy weather forced the clinic to be held in the school gym rather than on the football field, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm or effort.

"The young men we brought in, our student-athletes, they're kind of playing the coaches right now, and letting the coaches sit back and watch," Manigo said. "But seeing them encouraging young men and go through the drills, so it's a pretty good atmosphere."

Manigo said he was excited about his first year leading the Bears.

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