Residents take part in Chicago Bears Youth Football Camps

Alan Rood is a big believer in giving back to the sport that’s given him so much.

“I love football,” said Rood, the camp director at this week’s Chicago Bears Youth Football Camps being held at Park View Elementary School in Glen Ellyn. “Football is probably the one thing that has gotten me through life so far, and I want to give back to as many kids as I possibly can.”

Rood, the defensive coordinator at J. Sterling Morton High School in Berwyn-Cicero, is being joined this week by several members of the St. Viator coaching staff who also coach for the Bears Youth Camps. During the summer, these and other coaches provide detailed instruction in offense, defense and special teams play to those who attend Bears Youth Camps throughout the suburbs.

Specific instruction in the aformentioned aspects of football takes place each morning through station-based training. These training sessions are broken down according to age: 6- to-7-year olds (who are called Rookies), 8-9 (Scramblers), 10-11 (Playmakers) and 12-14 (Game Breakers).

Several boys from Wheaton have been attending the week-long, non-contact camp, including 13-year-old Jack Kravas and 12-year-old Kyle Paskvan.

Although Kravas is a Wheaton resident, he’ll be playing for the Glenbard Golden Eagles’ 130-pound squad next month.

“I like it a lot,” Kravas said of the camp. “I’ve been learning how to catch a football better, how to throw a football better. And I like the scrimmages.”

Each day of scrimmage builds on the previous day’s scrimmage. The first day of scrimmage is Preseason, followed by the Regular Season and the Playoffs. Fridays are devoted to playing the Super Bowl scrimmage.

“I like the scrimmages a lot,” said Paskvan, who is on the Wheaton Rams’ 115-pound team. “I just like switching positions.”

Paskvan also likes the various drills he takes part in every day, including one specifically designed for defensive backs.

“The coaches point you which direction to go,” he explains, “then they’ll throw the ball to you and you try to catch it.

“I like this camp a lot. The scrimmages are, by far, my favorite, and (going through) the drills teaches you a lot of new things.”

Rood, who was Northern Illinois’ starting fullback for four years (1998-2001), said the boys really start to catch on to the drills by mid-week.

“It’s outstanding to watch,” said Rood, who at NIU blocked for current NFL star running back Michael “The Burner” Turner, a two-time Pro Bowler with the Atlanta Falcons. “Without pads it’s difficult, but we can teach the fundamentals, changing direction, footwork, hands, throwing the ball … things that youths need to learn.

“We’re trying to teach the mental aspect of the game as well. The individualism of how you approach the game, how you treat your teammates, how you treat your parents, how to go about school, how to work hard. It’s about effort, and having some fun.”

One way camp coaches do this is by utilizing the acronym B.E.A.R. The B stands for believe; E is for effort, A for attitude and R for respect.

“Football kind of relates to life in a lot of ways,” said Dan O’Donnell, one of the camp coaches who’s the varsity defensive backs coach at St. Viator High School (Arlington Heights). “Just understanding that you have to be disciplined, you’ve got to follow what you’re being told to do and just being a good teammate and a good sport.”