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DANVILLE — When NFL player and Danville native Trent Sherfield has a chance to come home periodically, he tries to give back to the community that supported him.
That’s why the 2014 Danville High grad hosted a gala a couple months ago with his foundation, Diamonds Amongst the Rough, that raised almost $100,000, and donated to the Danville Rescue Mission men’s shelter and his beloved alma mater to help its football program.
Sherfield, 29, is returning home this weekend for his annual summer youth football camps. This time, that includes girls, as Danville’s girls’ flag football program is off to a great start and ready to begin its second season.
On Saturday, Sherfield will host his fifth-annual free youth football camp, which will be expanding into an evening session under the lights at Ned Whitesell Field.
Sherfield, a wide receiver now with the Denver Broncos, said he’s excited about the format for this year’s camp, which features a girls-only skills session in the morning and a multi-level evening format, concluding with a high school session on the new turf field.
The girls skills camp, open to incoming sixth- through 12th-graders, will be from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. In alignment with the national momentum behind girls’ flag football, the session will focus on skill development, teamwork and confidence building, Sherfield said.
The evening session will offer focused instruction and engagement for different age groups: third- to fifth-graders at 5 p.m., sixth- to eighth-graders at 6 p.m. and high schoolers at 7:30 p.m.
Sherfield will lead each session alongside current and former Division I athletes and community leaders. The intent is to give participants an elite-style training experience that focuses on fundamentals, discipline and mentorship.
“The fifth year of this camp means a lot to me,” Sherfield said. “In partnership with my nonprofit, Diamonds Amongst the Rough, we’re committed to offering opportunities that refine the future for young athletes. This is about more than football. It’s about investing in our kids and our community.”
Registration has already occurred, with about 45-50 signed up.
Sherfield will be coming home from the Nashville, Tenn., area, where he is completing workouts and training ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
He’s in his eighth year in the league, and joined the Broncos this spring after having played for the Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings.
“It’s always exciting to have a new opportunity,” Sherfield said, adding he’s been blessed to not have any injuries thus far.
He also said the Broncos have been very welcoming.
“It’s a young team. We’re going to be doing a lot of great things,” Sherfield said.
He’s also excited about this weekend’s camp, with this year being a little different for the kids, and “a little more fun,” he predicted.
Sherfield said the reason he does it is because he didn’t have a similar camp growing up, and he wants to pay it forward to those youth who love football and may go on to play at Division I or II schools or wherever.
He wants to pass down what he’s been able to learn from his different coaches and teammates along the way.
“Our community’s behind in some of the (sport) development, and I want to be able to bridge that gap for that younger generation,” he added.
He said the younger attendees do a lot of agility work, running through hurdles and tackling drills and learning the fundamentals of the game. They run around and have a good time with cone drills and going into a game, Sherfield said.
But for the older participants, the camp is like a college practice.
Sherfield said it gives those who want to play at that next level a taste of playing in college, executing plays and experiencing some of the things they should try to implement.
“That’s what happens at the next level. Take it from class to grass,” he said.
Sherfield said he’s also proud of his foundation and its first gala, which took place at Turtle Run Banquet Center in May and included an auction of some celebrity-provided items. Some of his former NFL teammates and friends were on hand for the event, including fellow Danville native Justin March-Lillard.
Sherfield said they planned for about 150 attendees, and it ended up standing room-only.
“You could see God’s hand in everything,” Sherfield said.
Plans for next year’s gala already are in the works. He said it will occur in June 2026, the weekend before Father’s Day.
His foundation is also planning a celebrity basketball tournament as the end to the gala weekend.
The foundation recently donated $15,000 to the Danville Rescue men’s shelter and $10,000 to the Danville High football program.
Sherfield said he was scrolling on social media and the story from Michael Ewing, director of the men’s shelter in Danville, moved him, inspiring the donation.
“It just touched me,” he said.
Sherfield said it’s important for him and his immediate family — wife, Marcella, and two children, Trent Jr., 2, and Adaliah, 9 months — to give back.
Several other family members still live in Danville, including his mom, Tedrone Gouard; stepdad, DaJuan Gouard; his grandmother, Chana Worthington; three uncles; and numerous cousins.
“For me, it was when I always come home, I see a lot of the struggles we have here,” Sherfield said.
But when he left Danville after the gala, he said he left with more hope.
“Our community did a great job of showing up,” he added.
The goal with proceeds from the gala is to build a new multipurpose sports facility for the youth in Danville and the surrounding area.
“We’ll put it right in Danville for them,” Sherfield said.
He started Diamonds Amongst The Rough in 2018, his rookie year with the NFL, as a nonprofit foundation.
He since has hosted youth football camps, which started in 2019, toy and backpack drives, and other events in Danville.
With all that’s on his plate at the moment, Sherfield said his previous plans for a downtown Danville pizzeria are not part of his focus at this time.
He was working with the city a couple years ago with plans to open My Town Pizzeria in the former Danville Downtown Event Center, 38 N. Vermilion St.
However, Sherfield said it would be a huge undertaking to run a restaurant.
He’s solely focused on his foundation at the moment, beside playing football.
“It’s shelved for now,” he said, so he’s considering having the site turned back into an event space to rent out.
“I know the area kind of needs that,” he said.
“The foundation to me, that’s what’s most important,” Sherfield added.
The community is thankful that Sherfield hasn’t forgotten his roots.
Mark Bacys, director of Danville School District 118 athletics, thanked Sherfield for his donation to the high school football program, saying it will go a long way for the team and morale.
He said Sherfield’s work ethic and determination were instilled in him in Danville, and he never forgets it.
“And he always comes back, and he always gives back,” Bacys said.
“Not being drafted and making it onto an NFL team is an incredible accomplishment. It’s that grit, it’s that determination ...,” Bacys added. “He always thinks of us. And no matter where he goes, he’s got Danville on his mind and he’s really got the kids of Danville on his mind.”