Summer used to mean time off for high school football players.

Then came 7-on-7 passing camps, where skill position players could practice through touch football games. Now, with many camps including competitions for linemen, summer football has become a team sport.

Such will be the case at Isabella’s passing/lineman camp that begins at 9 a.m. Thursday.

“It just made sense to me: If you’ve already got people coming, you might as well have them bring the whole team,” Isabella coach Lanny Jones said about adding a “lineman challenge” to Isabella’s three-year-old camp. “You basically make it a team camp.”

Isabella and Jemison will each field two teams, and Billingsley, Chilton County High, Prattville, Shades Mountain, Thorsby and Wadley will also participate.

7-on-7 pool play will begin at 9 a.m. at Bill Nabors Stadium. Seeding will be determined, and a double elimination tournament will begin at 1 p.m.

Six points are awarded for a touchdown, and teams then have the option of trying for a one-point conversion from the 5-yard line or a two-point conversion from the 10-yard line. Defenses can score with an interception, which counts for three points, forcing a turnover on downs, two points, or a sack, one point.

“The thinking is to let the defense be able score as much as the offense,” Jones said.

Pool play games will last for 20 minutes with no clock stoppages. Tournament games will have a running clock for 18 minutes, and then have two minutes of regulation play with one timeout available per team.

The lineman challenge will begin about 9:15 a.m. at Isabella’s practice field behind the gymnasium. The challenge will include five drills that will be completed for points: an obstacle course, 185-pound bench press repetitions, two players turning a blocking sled around in a circle, five players pushing the sled for 40 yards, and an offensive lineman and defensive lineman going one-on-one for four seconds, with the defender trying to get to a quarterback dummy.

No admission will be charged.