Kooper Ebel gives back to his hometown by hosting 712 Strong youth football camp
For Kooper Ebel coming from a small town is something to be proud of. That pride helped fuel his desire to give something back to his hometown of Hartley. It has led the former Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn standout to team up with Beau Goodwin from Kingsley to conduct two football camps for youth. Both young men are linebackers on the Iowa State University Cyclones football team.
The 712 Strong Football Camps 2025 were held July 17 at Kingsley High School and July 18 at HMS High School.
Ebel and Goodwin chose the name 712 Strong because they grew up in small towns within the 712 area code. Ebel said he and other players at ISU who hail from small towns hear it from the players from larger schools that they didn’t play real football in high school. “It’s 712 pride,” explained Ebel “It’s local pride in the best area code. We take a lot of pride in coming from small-town Iowa.”
In wanting to pay it back in some way to their home communities, Ebel and Goodwin explored the idea of conducting their own football camps. The duo had helped at other football camps and wanted to do something like that for youth in the communities where they grew up. “I had a lot of fun at those camps,” said Ebel. “We are excited to give back to our small towns. They are the towns that made us.”
The 712 Strong Football Camp at Hartley included a two-hour session for youth in grades 1-3 followed by a two-hour session for those in grades 4-6. The camps included warm-ups, work on football skills and non-tackle football games. A total of over 400 kids had signed up for the two camps. “We thought it would be neat to have 50 or 100 kids,” admitted Ebel. “We had no idea.”
It takes more than two individuals, no matter how dedicated, to organize a camp of this sort. Ebel gave credit to the sponsors who agreed to help out, including Roger and Jill Vander Veen (Vander Veen Family Farms), David and Diane Rossman (Rossman Farms) and James Vogt and family (Vogt Farms). He also credited parents, coaches (including HMS coaches), school and community for helping get the camps organized and put on. “They made it happen,” acknowledged Ebel. “A lot of people are more than willing to help. That’s the cool thing about small towns.”
With the camp’s focus being on the youth, Ebel says they will benefit from “a ton of coaching.” He also wants to let the kids know that just because you come from a small town doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve big things. “We want to show the kids that even though you are from a small town, you can still play,” said Ebel. HMS grads now playing in college who were there to confirm that included Connor Dodd (Dordt University) and Ethan Wiersma (BVU). “Beau and I have a lot of pride in being from a small town,” Ebel added. “You can do it. It’s pretty cool being from Hartley.”
Several awards were presented at the close of the camps. Ebel mentioned in particular the Sportsmanship Award. “It’s a little way to recognize someone who has good sportsmanship, and talk about why it is important,” he said. “That is part of the game.”
The faith of the ISU duo also brought a Christian aspect to the camps. There were pray ins and pray outs for each session and Bible verse bracelets were given out. “The big emphasis is we’re making this a Christian camp,” stressed Ebel. “That is a big part of who Beau and I are. We’re not just playing football for any reason. We have this platform and we want to use that platform to spread the word of Jesus.”
Ebel is gearing up for his junior season on the Cyclone football squad. He said the experience of being at ISU has been “really good.” He noted that the coaches have been the same as they were during the recruiting process and that the messaging about what’s important to ISU football has been consistent. Ebel expressed that although NIL is a big thing, the program still focuses on its core values. “We stay true to building good football players, and also building the person,” he noted. “Football will be over, but I’ll be able to be a good father and community leader. That’s what is important.”