Camp participants take part in a series of agility drills to begin the first day of the GPA Camp. CJ Caraang | SL

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MANOA — Although the event was in jeopardy two months ago, the Gridiron Performance Academy College Showcase was able to keep on going without any roadblocks.

Thanks to the overturning of a controversial NCAA rule, a grand total of 559 student athletes were able to take part in the annual camp at the University of Hawaii at Manoa over the past weekend.

The NCAA Division I Council had approved a proposal in early April that would have prevented FBS coaches and staff members from attending camps and clinics that weren't on their respective campuses. The rule was meant to protect academic integrity, but would have made it harder for local prep athletes to get noticed by college coaches.

"This is more important to Hawaii than any other geographic region (camp) because of (our) geographical isolation and the costs of how prohibitive it is for our kids to go the mainland to be in front of coaches," said camp organizer Rich Miano. "We want to make it easier for them. This is what it's all about."

Fortunately for local athletes, the rule was overturned and over 50 college coaches from the mainland were able to attend the Hawaii-based camp without any restrictions.

"The NCAA did not do their research, did not their due diligence in terms of what this camp is all about," said Miano. "This is not a satellite camp, it's not an institutional camp. It's an opportunity camp. We don't represent any colleges, we represent young people."

Prep athletes took part in various drills, learned from educational and compliance seminars, listened to guest speakers and got coached up by participating coaches in the camp's fourth year of existence.

"Overall it was great and I loved it," said Farrington running back Challen Faamatau. "We are very blessed to have this opportunity to show these coaches what we got."

Among the coaches in attendance was University of Washington head coach Chris Petersen.

"I think all these camps are awesome because I think kids just want to get better," said Petersen. "For us to come over here and work with kids is a really good thing. We like it as coaches and hopefully they like it as players."

But not all coaches that attended the camp were from a Division I school. Players also got looks from FCS, Division II, Division III and junior college coaches throughout the three-day event.

"It's super important because not every kid is going to go to a Division I school," said Pacific assistant coach PJ Minaya, who also played football for Pac-Five. "We're out there looking for those kids that don't get a (Division I) scholarship, but are just looking for a chance to play football."

Miano added to this by saying: "The more of those type of coaches that we can bring in, the more we can benefit all of the kids here. We just want them to use (this) as a vehicle to go to college.

"Very few of us will go to the NFL, but almost all of us can get an education."