Stratford Star

Camille finds new family at St. Anselm's

“Hospitality, honesty, commitment to family [team],” are the reasons David Camille decided to attend St. Anselm’s College in New Hampshire, where the Bunnell High two-sport standout will play football for the Hawks, while majoring in philosophy, after signing his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, Feb. 1.

Not surprisingly, it was those qualities used by Camille’s coaches and school adminstrator’s to praise the son of Therese and Claude Camille at a gathering celebrating the day in the Bunnell High library.

“I visited St. Anselm’s late [in the recruiting process] and felt right at home with the size of the school, its location, and the way Coach [Patrick] Murphy runs his program,” Camille said.

“The first thing he asked me was my grade situation, and I liked that a lot.”

It was the right question for the right person, as Camille takes advanced prep classes and is an honor student, while playing four years of football and being a late edition to the track team, where Camille won the South-West Conference 55-meter hurdles championship on Saturday.

“We saw David initially at a Boston College camp last June, and he scored out well athletically,” said Murphy, now in his fourth year at St. Anselm’s.

“The first time I spoke with David, I could tell what an outstanding person he is, and that academics are important to him.

“Coming in, his position in high school makes for less of a learning curve. He can do a lot of things [in the Hawks’ [spread, zone-read offense].

“David runs well and catches the ball well. When he’s ready he’ll fit our offense. The sooner the better.”

Camille used his 5-10, 170-pound frame to set a new course for Bunnell football, according to Bulldog coach Craig Bruno.

“David is one of the main reasons that this program turned its way back around after one bad season,” said Bruno, who has coached Bunnell to a pair of state championships, the second when Camille was a freshman.

“We’re back in good shape, and will be for awhile, because of David.

“He ran for for 128 yards per game [an 8.7 average for a total of 1,286], and that gave us the flexability we needed in our spread offense.

“David is a great fit at St. Anselm’s, both as a student and as an athlete.

“He comes from a great family, and everyone in the Bunnell family is proud of his success.”

Camille understood his role, as Bunnell averaged an even 500 yards of total offense per game in scoring 42 points a game to finish 8-2.

“Coach Bruno knew my potential, and with our great quarterback and receivers it wasn’t always the right time [to run the ball].

“The defense would fall back, my line would block, and I’d find open space. But, once they started loading the box [the front seven on defense], we’d go back to throwing the ball.

“It was a great mix. I met a lot of people here at Bunnell that I feel I’ll be able to count on forever.”

Camille credits his parents for his attention to detail, and points to their influence as the reason he plays football.

“After I went out for the Redskins [Pop Warner], in the first year I was going against kids like Tyler Matakevich [Temple-bound] and Lance Hunt [Yale University],” he said.

“I was getting beat up and wasn’t there mentally. I wasn’t happy, but my folks told me to stick with it, that I owed it to myself and my team to ride it out.

“Then, if I didn’t want to go back out, that would be fine.”

“Coach Tony [Ruberio] believed in me, and I began to believe in myself. The second year we went to the playoffs.”

Camille’s career at Bunnell followed a similar path.

After seeing spot time as a freshman, he started as a sophomore, and no one was happy with the result.

“We went 5-5 and again there was doubt, but the team came together for Coach Bruno and we turned it around, going 7-3 and 8-2.

“We are right on the cusp again [of states] and they’ll do it next year.

“I see the same thing at St. Anselm’s. The program is being built from the ground up and I want to be part of it.”