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VIDEO: Bears Football Camp Teaches Kids Fundamentals

Without pads and helmets, kids focus on footwork and techniques in learning the game of football.

The NFL might not be playing its season anytime soon, but that didn’t stop Winnetka kids from taking to the fields and learning the basics of football.

Around 80 kids ages 6-14 signed up for Winnetka’s week-long Chicago Bears Youth Football Camp. Led by former Chicago Bears fullback Robin Earl, the camps seek to teach kids all around Chicagoland the fundamentals in all aspects of football.

“We stress technique; we stress footwork and teach the skills of the game,” said Earl, who has been the director at these youth camps for seven years.

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Taught by a number of coaches who have all played football at the high school level and beyond, the campers go through drills that teach the basics in a variety of positions. On Wednesday morning, they went through workouts teaching them how to recover a fumble, how to make a pitch and how to take a three-point stance among others.

“I’ve learned the most about throwing properly,” said Patrik Kaufman, 10, from Winnetka.

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These football camps are different from most because they do not involve pads. This gives all kids -- especially younger and smaller campers -- a safe environment to learn without being intimidated.

Overall, the camp’s goal is to enable every kid to be successful in some capacity of the game.

“A lot of these kids have never played before,” Earl said. “I would say over half of them have not put on a shoulder pads and helmet.”

But that’s not to say the camp is completely contact-free. They run through tackling dummies and are hit by soft pads when returning punts. Two-hand touch is incorporated into other drills where offense and defense line up and the camp has daily scrimmages.

Earl recalled one time when two campers collided going after a pass, sending both to the hospital. One needed stitches while the other had to have two front teeth replaced. But both were back at camp the next day.

The campers also get visits from other former Chicago Bears players. On Tuesday, Allan Ellis, a defensive back in the late 1970s. Wednesday also saw a special guest come by camp. The Chicago Bears’ new Chairman of the Board, George McCaskey, came by to answer a few questions, give away a couple hats and watch the campers go through drills.

Earl stressed how important it is to get kids started at a young age because they are impressionable. With proper training, they won’t have the bad habits at higher levels. And that’s one of the reasons why he has kept coming back every summer.

“Every camp that I do, one child’s life can be changed,” Earl said. “It’s pretty rewarding if you can help a young man and steer him on the right path and teach him something he didn’t know.”

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