“Hard work.” “Lots of practice.” “Heart.” “Intensity.”

Ask the participants of this week’s Cyclone Football Camps what it takes to become a Division I football player, and their answers sound a lot like ISU head football coach Dan McCarney’s.

“We clap after every time he speaks,” said Gunnar Glasnap, 13, of Hampton.

They’ve been listening.

More than 1,300 boys in fifth through 12th grades are participating in this year’s camp, run by McCarney and his coaching staff.

McCarney says he tries to teach campers the same basics he teaches varsity players.

“We teach Iowa State fundamentals,” he said. “Little things do make a difference, and fundamentals and techniques and those things really are important if you’re going to improve your game.”

Nathan Donney, 17, of Fort Dodge said he learned techniques for playing tight end and defensive end.

“Keeping low, hand position, stuff like that,” Donney said. “You get good leverage on him. Low man wins.”

Robert Best, 16, of Des Moines, said he’s participated in the camp the last three years. This year he’s been working on his skills as a receiver and defensive back.

“I’ve finally learned I have a pair of hands this year,” Best said. “They’ve been working with me on my steps and trying to learn how to juke some people.”

Best also spent some time at the portion of the camp Saturday dedicated solely to kicking.

“They didn’t have a whole lot of technique that I didn’t know already,” he said. “My father was a kicker and helped me out a lot.”

“Basically . . . you gotta have a good leg,” Best said. “There are a lot of guys that are really tall and that just use their long legs for leverage and boot the ball. But I’m kind of shorter. I got a little, powerful leg.”

In addition to the kicking camp, the players can participate in three days of practices — held in two sessions this week — designed to improve their overall abilities. Each session also includes a seven-on-seven tournament.

Angelo Taylor, 16, plays running back and defensive back at Ames High School. He said the camp has made him a better overall player.

“Probably being quicker and stuff and getting to the ball quick,” Taylor said. “Being more knowledgeable about the game in general instead of just playing.”

Taylor said he worked with assistant head coach Tony Alford to improve his skills at running back. He had praise for the rest of the coaching staff as well.

“All the coaches are real good,” Taylor said. “All of them will help you if you ask them.”

McCarney said all of his coaches participate in the camps with assistance from about 20 high school and college coaches.

Participants said the drills and techniques in the camp are more advanced in some ways than what they learn in practice with their hometown teams. Some of the younger campers don’t even have to wear pads and helmets for their drills.

“In this camp, some of the younger guys . . . don’t use pads as much because they want to keep them healthy,” said Brian Jones, 15, of Ames.

However, older campers like Jones need to strap on the pads.

“In about 30 minutes, we’re gonna hit pretty hard,” he said. “So we use our pads a lot.”

McCarney said participants come from all around the Midwest, as well as places as far away as Texas and North Carolina.

“The word’s out we got a good camp, and kids are coming from all around,” he said. “It’s pretty inspiring to see this number of kids that come from a lot of places.” McCarney said the camp is a major recruiting tool for the football program.

“A lot of them we know a lot about, and we’ve watched sophomore, junior tapes, then we get them to camp,” he said. “We signed 26 kids last year and 15 [of them] had been in our camp last year, for example.”

Most of the campers are unlikely to earn a college football scholarship, but McCarney believes the camp also helps the university attract students.

“Many, many, many, many of these kids that come to our camp come to Iowa State, and a lot of those kids aren’t going to be on the football team,” he said. “But they come here, have a good experience. They have an Iowa State experience. They enjoy being a part of the Cyclone experience and [many] end up coming to school here.”