PALMER — Nearly two decades ago, Randy Klingenmeyer sensed a need for Alaska prep football programs and its players.

Athletes from the 49th state weren’t being recruited by college teams, and when it came to coaching and competition, Klingenmeyer felt there was room for improvement.

That led to the birth of the All-Alaska Football Camp. And as the camp has grown over the last 18 years, the level of competition and success in prep football in Alaska has evolved right along with it.

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“I didn’t think Alaska football coaches were where they needed to be,” Klingenmeyer said on Monday. “I didn’t think the kids were where they needed to be.”

But thanks in part to the camp, which has become a football fixture for prep teams in the Last Frontier, things are different. Teams are more competitive and Alaska athletes consistently get the opportunity to extend their careers Outside.

“We’ve always had some good high school football players,” Klingenmeyer said. “But I think we have more of them now.”

About 380 prep players from across Alaska are attending the 18th annual camp, which started Sunday and continues through Wednesday at Colony High School in Palmer.

In addition to raising the bar for football competition in Alaska, Klingenmeyer also intended to use the camp as a showcase for the state’s talent. That vision has become a reality. Klingenmeyer estimated that 30 to 40 veterans of the camp get the opportunity to play college football each fall.

But regardless of the number of athletes who are signed by colleges each year, what stands out to most is the fact that all of the players in attendance have the opportunity to be seen by college coaches.

“I think even more so than what (the college coaches) are teaching, is the fact players are getting exposed,” said Soldotna head coach Galen Brantley, who attended the first All-Alaska Football Camp as a player in 1992. “They all have the potential to be recruited.”

The camp also provides a one-of-a-kind experience for Alaska players.

“This happens nowhere else in the nation,” said Valley City State head coach and All-Alaska Football Camp field director Dennis McCulloch, who has been coaching at the camp since 1995. “When Idaho hosts a camp they don’t invite 20 other colleges to come in and a part of the camp. If we have a camp at Valley City State, it’s just my coaching staff. It’s a very unique situation, to bring in these different college coaches at one time. Yo u can be noticed by a lot of different colleges at a lot of different levels.”

The camp has also turned into a focal point in the offseason recruiting for coaches such as McCulloch, who currently has 18 Alaska players on his roster.

“We try to recruit eight kids a year out of this state,” McCulloch said. “It’s a huge deal.”

Before the creation of the camp, Alaska was an untapped resource when it came to recruiting. Now McCulloch said, the camp provides a way for college coaches to see what the 49th state has to offer.

“We live in a small state, but we have nine colleges in the state that play college football,” McCulloch said of Valley City’s home in North Dakota. “I see us getting a better talent kid up in Alaska versus going to our state or Minnesota, which is very over-recruited. There’s a lot of colleges that hit those schools over and over. There’s a better talent pool for us in this state.”

During its 18 years, the camp has also grown to incorporate the state’s high school coaches. Because of that, Klingenmeyer said the state has enjoyed an improvement in coaching and competition.

“Overall, I think there’s always been pretty good coaching at the top, but there’s been a lot of room for improvement when you look at the depth of the staff,” the camp founder said. “I think the depth of the staffs has improved and we have more capable coaches than we did 15, 16, 17 years ago.”

While the camp still covers individual skills, such as blocking, tackling, running the ball and passing, the camp gives Alaska teams the opportunity to work as a unit within their systems.

“I think the fact it is a team camp is what has made it the success it is,” said Brantley, who brought 47 players to the 2009 camp.

During the offensive, defensive and special teams sessions, the college coaches work with the high school coaches and players, as the teams work with their systems.

“We put a couple of college coaches with each team to give feedback as far as how things are going,” McCulloch said. “It’s another set of eyes.”

With the current format, the camp allows teams to work on what they plan to do in the fall.

“It’s like a mini-camp,” said All-Alaska Camp director of supervision Lenny Doerfler, who has been making the trip to Alaska for each of the last 11 summers. “You get to run your own plays, your own offense, your own defense.”

The camp also includes clinics for the high school coaches in the evenings.

“These are people who do this for a living,” Brantley said. “They have the expertise.”

Like coaching the players, McCulloch said teaching the coaches also lends to the growth of the high school programs.

“To me it’s very important the skills get passed down,” McCulloch said. “There has to be a trickle down affect of coaches learning and teaching each other.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.