June 25, 2011
Cleveland, Ohio
For the 8th straight year, the Children Achieving Through Community Help 84 (C.A.T.C.H. 84) Foundation hosted two free football camps at Bedford High School in Cleveland, Ohio led by Chris Chambers, CEO and Founder of C.A.T.C.H. 84.
On Friday, June 24th, the Foundation held the 8th Annual Youth Skills Camp at Bedford High School, which registered 170 participants (ages 9-14). The free camp focused on enhancing the youth football skills through instructional training drills led by Chris, several local high school players, coaches, as well as players from the semi-pro, Cleveland Gladiators. Before the camp, the kids had a chance to hear from a Cleveland Clinic representative who spoke about the importance of hydration. At the end of the day, the campers received autographs from Chris, clothes from Reebok, backpacks, wristbands, and the C.A.T.C.H. 84 headbands.
On Saturday, June 25th, C.A.T.C.H. 84 hosted the 8th Annual 7 on 7 Skills Camp, which featured 12 teams from the Cleveland area. Bedford alumni and St. Louis Rams offensive tackle, Rodger Saffold and Cleveland native and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, Ted Ginn, Jr. joined Chris. The morning featured positional drills and instructional periods led by the players and local high school coaches. Since Rodger was in attendance, he worked with the offensive linemen, which was a new addition to this year’s camp. In the afternoon, the 12 teams competed in a 7 on 7, round robin tournament, which included the title game between Buchtel High School from Akron and Westlake High School from Cleveland. The 2011 tournament champion was Buchtel High School. At the end of the day, all the participants walked away with a gift bag full of gear, keepsakes, and inspirational words from Chris Chambers. Overall, the camps had over 400 kids and Chris had the opportunity to talk with all of them not only about football techniques but also about life choices.
The theme Chris chose to focus on this year was “being blessed” and all the campers received C.A.T.C.H. 84 wristbands with the word blessed on the back of the wristband. Chris made it a point to let all the participants know just how blessed they are to be able to run around and play sports when many kids are sick or live in areas where they don’t have the same opportunity.
C.A.T.C.H. 84 also exposes camp participants to financial awareness and opportunities for scholarships. For the past few years, C.A.T.C.H. 84 along with Key Bank, awarded scholarships to the best qualified graduating high school senior and provided financial awareness seminars. This year, the 2011 Key to Success $2,500 Scholarship Award was presented to Mr. Tarell Eatmon. Tarell will use the scholarship to help offset his education expenses at Kent State University, where he will be attending in the Fall. In the Fall of 2011, C.A.T.C.H. 84 Foundation will partner with KeyBank to show these student athletes the importance of different life skills off the field and specifically in the area of financial literacy. The Foundation has invited all of the teams from the camp to KeyBank for a day of financial awareness, which encapsulate the importance of using bank accounts and maintaining an excellent credit rating. At the end, the Foundation will open bank accounts for students over the age of 18 and purchase savings bonds for kids under 18.
