A group of local youths received lessons in life and sports at a recent event at the Oakland Raiders’ practice facility in Alameda. The weekend of June 14 saw the Oakland Raiders, in conjunction with the NFL, partnering with Hall of Fame offensive tackle Anthony Muñoz and the Muñoz Agency to host an NFL PLAY 60 Character Camp.
The two-day, non-contact football camp featured Raiders players including this year’s top selection, Khalil Mack, the fifth overall selection in last month’s NFL draft, as well as two rookie players with local ties – George Atkinson (Livermore’s Granada High) and TJ Carrie (Concord’s De La Salle High).
For the camp, the Raiders’ hosted approximately 400 predominantly-Hispanic boys and girls ages 7-13 from local youth organizations.
The mission of the event was to make a positive impact on youth through teaching football skills, emphasizing exercise, and reinforcing the importance of character in athletics and life. The program will work in collaboration with USA Football and their NFL FLAG curriculum, which introduces children to football by teaching basic skills in a non-contact setting. In addition, the camps will teach character values that are core to the Anthony Muñoz Foundation, as well as promote NFL PLAY 60’s health and fitness message. NFL PLAY 60 is the league’s youth health and fitness campaign, aimed at getting kids active for 60 minutes a day.
“It feels pretty good to be an inspiration to all these kids out here,” said rookie cornerback Keith McGill. “I was just telling the kids it just starts at the age they’re at now,” he explained. “Whether you’re in first grade or whether you’re in sixth grade if you’re not doing the right things, then start doing the right things – listening to your teachers, listening to your parents, and understanding there’s a lot more than football.”
Each camp participant received a football with a bilingual hang-tag that offers youth an opportunity to view videos in Spanish and English that teach the basics of football on the NFL’s youth website, NFLRUSH.com. The NFL has donated more than 40,000 footballs to youth as part of its Hispanic outreach initiative.
“It’s a great opportunity to get to spend some time with great kids,” said Raiders veteran offensive lineman Kevin Boothe. “Obviously, there’s a football-learning aspect to it, but it’s also a good character building camp. The kids out there have great attitudes and there’s no doubt in my mind that they’re going to grow up to be successful individuals, whether it’s in athletics or elsewhere. We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are professionally without building good character traits, whether that’s working well together in a team atmosphere, or following directions and showing respect,” said Boothe. “Those are things that seem to get you far in life, those are things that I wanted them to know that we still follow those principles on a day-to-day basis.”
The camp was the first in a series of NFL PLAY 60 Character Camps to be held this summer as part of the NFL’s year-round Hispanic outreach initiative, focused on offering youth opportunities to play and experience the game of football.
“I hope they understand the importance of the Play 60 and what that’s all about and getting out and being active and eating right,” said Raiders veteran safety Tyvon Branch. “This is a character camp, and teaching them good characteristics and good character traits, I hope they take that to heart and go out there and bring positivity to the world.”