What began with a dream and a project to help Chicago boys and girls who would like to integrate sport into their lives is now a reality, as the “Chicago Tochito Academy” managed to attract the attention of one of the city’s greatest attractions out of the windy city, the Chicago Bears joined forces with Omar Ureña, leader of the Chicago Soldados project, to kick off the Jr. Bear program’s second free flag football clinic, which was held on July 10 in Humboldt Park.

The initiative to host the Chicago Bears free summer clinics for kids came from Gus Silva, Manager of Youth Football & Community Programs for the Chicago Bears, supported by Roberto Lugo, Senior Program & Event Coordinator-Athletics for the Chicago Park District and Jacki Stuckert, Youth Football & Community Programs Coordinator for the Chicago Bears.

There were 75 girls and boys between the ages of 8 and 13, belonging to the Hispanic and African-American communities among others, with the help of 8 volunteer coaches, including the founder of the Chicago Soldados, Omar, and four Chicago Police officers, who like all the volunteers there, are determined to make a change for their city. The officers who helped as coaches were Mark Hoss, Lucian Muntean, Daniel Birt and Francisco Galvan.

During this second clinic, the coaches were divided into stations, each dedicated to attacking different football positions, where the children were taught the basic fundamentals of the sport in a competitive environment, but with fun and patience.

This second clinic can be considered a success, as it is only the beginning of a project that will seek to grow and expand throughout the city of Chicago, since its goal, as mentioned before, is to help young people, boys and girls, regardless of their racial origin, to move forward through football, guiding them on a good path and leading them to grow as great human beings, and with the feeling of belonging and having equal opportunities for all, without any discrimination, showing that anyone can make it and achieve their dreams with determination and hard work.

The Chicago Tochito Academy Soldados, along with the Chicago Bears, will continue in the future to host free clinics. All boys and girls from 8 to 13 years old who wish to learn football can register for the Soldados first season, which begins on August 11th with the first official practice in Humboldt Park (Division and California). For more information and to register, visit https://chicagotochito.com/soldados-camp/. Gráfico Sports will continue its coverage of this great project through http://www.graficosports.com.

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