Sun Devils announce return to Tontozona
May 31, 2012, 9:36 PM | Updated: 11:35 pm
Thanks to donations from nearly 500 fans, former
players and Arizona State Sun Devil Alumni, the Sun Devil
football team will be returning to camp Tontozona from
August 14 to August 18.
The campaign, which was coined “Return To Camp T,” called
on those close to
the team to raise $150,000 dollars for the Sun Devil Club
before June 1, in order to send the team back to the camp.
It was led by head coach Todd Graham and athletic
director Steve Patterson.
“Ever since Todd and I visited up there and were so warmly
received by the mayor and the other folks up there, we got
really excited about it,” Patterson said at a press
conference Thursday. “We wanted to re-engage in one of
the great traditions that ASU football has had, first
started by Frank Kush so many years ago and so we’re
really excited about going back there.”
The White Mountain Sun Devil Club Alumni Chapter announced
they would be matching donations to a total of up to
$65,000, which helped bring the team over its goal.
The trip will end with a scrimmage on the final day at
the mountain retreat, where football will be the sole
focus for players, coaches and staff.
“To be able to go to a secluded place like that in our
first year when relationship is so important, to develop
our team, to strain them, to train them, and have no
distractions is going to be exactly what we need in our
first year and something we want to continue,” Graham
said.
Legendary head coach Frank Kush first took his Arizona
State team to the facility east of Payson back in 1960,
and the Sun Devils spent at least part of training camp
there every year until the tradition stopped in 2008.
“Camp Tontozona was simply about a bonding experience for
us, especially as freshmen,” said former Arizona State
quarterback Jake Plummer. “For me, it was my
indoctrination to college football. It culminated in a
Rose Bowl for us in 1996. It was Camp Tontozona that
brought us together.”
Arizona Sports’ Vince Marotta contributed to this
report.
