Rural practices give Rebels chance to cool off, focus

By Ryan Greene

Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009 | 2 a.m.

UNLV in Ely: Day 1

Launch slideshow »

The shrill chirp of coaches’ whistles split the air at Broadbent Park as the UNLV football team began its annual summer training camp Wednesday in the relative isolation of White Pine County.

Each August the Rebels pack everything from tackling dummies to goal posts into a truck and head up to this beautiful but remote mining town. They give up their familiar practice surroundings and artificial turf at Rebel Park for the Spartan facilities and natural grass in Ely. They dress in the armory behind the park and shower in a mobile trailer.

But they trade the bright lights and distractions of Las Vegas for the cool mountain air and quiet nights of Ely.

Here’s a look at the Ely camp by the numbers:

8: Days of practice

12: Practice sessions

1: Scrimmage, from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. Saturday

291: Miles from Las Vegas to Ely on U.S. 93

4: Places for the players to be in Ely — Broadbent Park, where they practice; White Pine High, which the Rebels use for morning meals, tape jobs and meetings; the motel (UNLV players and coaches are spread among a few of them); and the Ely Convention Center, which serves as a mess hall

0: Frills (and distractions, coaches hope)

2: Brothels (though the Big Four and Stardust Ranch are off-limits to players)

6,350: Feet in elevation in Ely, almost a mile higher than Rebel Park on the UNLV campus

86: High temperature in Ely on Wednesday

105: High temperature in Las Vegas

4,008: Residents in Ely, according to the most recent estimate from the Census Bureau

1912: Year that Pat Nixon, wife of former President Richard Nixon, was born in Ely

6: Stories in the Nevada Hotel. The Ely landmark was built in 1929 and was the tallest building in Nevada into the 1940s.