NATCHEZ — Shed McKenzie is using the wisdom he gained in helping his son earn a scholarship to hopefully provide the same opportunity for other Miss-Lou athletes.

Shed McKenzie’s son, Trinity Episcopal senior Tip McKenzie, recently committed to play football at the University of Southern Mississippi. The elder McKenzie said the key to his son’s recruitment was exposure — something local athletes don’t always get, he said.

“I see a lot of kids in this area not get recruited,” Shed McKenzie said. “A lot of parents don’t know what it takes (to get their athlete’s name out there). Our main goal is to help kids in the Miss-Lou attain scholarships.”

McKenzie said his son is currently rated a three-star recruit on both Rivals.com and Scout.com, two Internet recruiting websites. And the reason his son was so highly rated was because of those recruiting services seeing Tip firsthand, the elder McKenzie said.

“He’s rated that highly because he went to the right camps,” McKenzie said. “If you want to get rated in the state and in the country, you have to go to the Rivals- and Scout-sponsored camps.

“Some people say, ‘We go to camps,’ but they don’t go to the right ones. If you want to attend a certain school, you need to go to that school’s camp. Every combine that’s offered in the area, you have to attend.”

Saturday morning, McKenzie hosted his first Miss-Lou Scouting Camp at Trinity Episcopal, allowing local athletes to participate in certain drills to get the numbers colleges look for in prospective recruits.

“We’re going to do the 40-yard dash, the board jump and the shuttle (drill),” McKenzie said. “We’re also going to mix it up one-on-one, and at the end of the day do some seven-on-seven competitions. We have guys coming in to train at every position.”

McKenzie also said film of the athletes will be sent out to schools of interest.

“The players can also purchase their own dot-com page, where they can post highlights and numbers, along with newspaper clippings,” McKenzie said.

“A lot of kids have tapes, but the quality is so poor that you can’t tell which player is (the athlete you’re highlighting). I’ve contracted with a guy in Indiana who did Tip’s tapes, and he does a great job cleaning them up. They also put a little halo over the player so you can know which one to follow.”

Former Alcorn State and Denver Broncos player Lee Robinson was on-hand to help McKenzie with his camp Saturday. Robinson said he knows the McKenzies because of the work he’s done with Tip, and his goal at the camp was to teach athletes the right lifestyle to have.

“I want to let them know that they always have to be prepared,” Robinson said. “Don’t let yourself get out of shape, because you never know when your number will be called and when the opportunity to get a scholarship will present itself.

“If a chance to take a step toward your dream does occur, be prepared and ready to go, because there aren’t a lot of opportunities.”

In addition to Saturday, Miss-Lou Scouting also hosted its camp Friday morning.