During Pro Bowl Week,
Character Camp teaches kids fundamentals of football, life
the NFL Play 60 Character Camp at Walt Disney World teaches kids about succeeding in football — and life.
Ehmcke should have been studying reading and math at Kissimmee Elementary.
That would have been her normal class schedule on a Thursday morning. Instead, Zoe was outside on this brisk day with a cool vibe for the 200-plus predominantly Hispanic students from Central Excused absences don’t get much better than this — the NFL Play 60 Character Camp at Disney World as part of Pro Bowl Week. The league’s all-star showcase is set for 3 p.m. Sunday at Camping World Stadium and will be teleZoe vised by ESPN, ABC (WFTV-Ch. 9) and ESPN Deportes.
“I learned a little bit about how to play football,’’ Zoe, a secondgrader, said as a Cleveland Browns cap covered her hair. “I only knew a few teams.’’
NFL marketing director Marissa Fernandez said being a good person is more important than being a good athlete.
“We talk about the values that you learn through playing football and through sports, where that can take you in life,’’ Fernandez said.
The character camps are straight out of a playbook devised by the NFL and Anthony Muñoz, a 1998 Hall of Fame inductee. They started in 2012 and have reached more than 20,000 youths, accordFlorida.
ing to the league.
On this occasion, boys and girls ages 7 through 12 or 13 from two Osceola County schools — Thacker Avenue Elementary in Kissimmee is the other — learned about football fundamentals, healthier choices and how to become a high-character teammate.
“You can be as successful as you want to be,’’ said Munoz, 59. “You can be a doctor, an attorney. You can be a teacher. You can be an NFL player, but do it the right way.’’
Rebecca Velázquez, a fifth-grade teacher at Thacker Elementary, watched as students ran from station to station in camp-issued white T-shirts that hung below some knees.
Thacker is a Title 1 school that receives funding because of its high percentage of low-income families, Velázquez said.
“They were all excited about it,’’ she said. “Most of them haven’t been [to Disney World] before. They don’t have these opportunities all the time. For them, it is like a big, big thing.’’
One of Velázquez’s pupils, Sanaa Sakhi, was excited. About 30 instructors served as teachers for a day during the two-hour camp, including her coach.
“She told me that she actually plays for a women’s professional football team, and it was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m actually meeting someone that’s famous. People know her name,’ ’’ Sanaa said.
Muñoz’s name is wellknown with football fans.
Arguably the best NFL offensive lineman ever, Muñoz spent 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before retiring in 1992.
The 6-foot-6 Muñoz made his late mother proud, and vice versa.
At times, Esther Muñoz cut grapes off the vine in the fields near the family’s Ontario, Calif., home, packed eggs on a chicken ranch and ironed clothes to feed her five children.
“She would always do it to provide for us, so we would have what we needed for the school year, maybe a couple of presents under the Christmas tree, some new clothes,’’ Anthony Muñoz said of his mother’s work ethic as a single parent. “It wasn’t the easiest work, but she did it and busted her tail for us.’’ The example was set. Muñoz wants to pass it along, and he has willing listeners. Sanaa said she found a simple game of dodge ball instructive about good character traits.
“It showed me that truth is always better than deceiving people,’’ she said. “Whenever you got hit, it’s OK. Everyone gets hit. Be honest.’’ It was all in good fun. Zoe was happy. As she left, she was asked about the event she enjoyed the most.
‘I don’t know what it was called, but you had to pull a flag down from the belt,’’ Zoe said.
Flag football was new to Zoe, but that’s OK.
That’s what learning is all about.