WEST PALM BEACH – Philadelphia Eagles cornerback and former Florida Atlantic Owl Cre’Von LeBlanc hosted his third annual Strap 4 It football camp for local area football players on Saturday (June 29).

Completely free for every camp participant, it is a way for LeBlanc to give back to the community while providing football players with a camp in the area so the travel time is reduced.

“You might have some families who can’t always travel an hour and a half or two hours for a camp,” LeBlanc said. “When I was in high school, I had to travel four hours to attend Friday Night Lights in Gainesville.”

This year, only two camps were held in South Florida before LeBlanc’s and one of them (the Manny Diaz camp) was a first-time introduction to the area. Previously, Paradise Camp in Coral Gables or Friday Night Lights in Gainesville were the two best chances for high school students to get their name out.

Although some of the on-field drills were cut short because of rain, the participants went through position-specific drills, including footwork drills. The drills were coached by current NFL players and local high school coaches.

Off the field, the campers listened to speeches by LeBlanc and his trainer, as well as a recruiting talk. The mission is to make the campers well-rounded people on and off the field.

“It’s classroom, it’s character, all of that stuff,” Lawanda LeBlanc, the mother of Cre’Von, said. “That’s what the purpose of this camp is for.”

Following LeBlanc’s camp, Chicago Bears punter Pat O’Donnell announced a specialists camp to be held next week.