With a brand new coach in Matt Eberflus and hopes for continued growth of second-year quarterback Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears open coaching camp this week that includes new enticements geared toward getting extra followers to Halas Hall.
On Thursday, the Bears are set to open up the primary of 11 scheduled public coaching camp classes at their Lake Forest headquarters. It would be the third consecutive 12 months of coaching camp at Halas Hall, and the second open to followers because the 2020 camp was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scott Hagel, the Bears senior vice chairman for advertising and marketing and communications, mentioned the crew hopes to see a rise in attendance this 12 months. Pioneer Press reported in Sept. that roughly 14,000 followers watched 18 classes in 2021, when 14 have been fully open to the general public. Four others have been restricted to season ticket holders, navy members and neighborhood teams.
“We’ve learned a lot the first two years,” he mentioned. “I think we have made some improvements to make the experience better.”
With an easing of security mitigations that have been in place on the 2021 camp, followers will be capable of search autographs from gamers and coaches this 12 months after observe.
“It brings energy to both sides,” Hagel mentioned.
Also on faucet will probably be a greater diversity of meals vans with completely different gadgets to eat and drink, and there will probably be an leisure zone with video video games, the place followers can strive their model of radio play-by-play and take some digital actuality excursions, together with different choices.
In one other swap, there will probably be further standing room capability within the bleachers on the a number of fields used for the observe classes.
“It was clear that fans like to be close to the action and standing, so we wanted to make sure those opportunities were increased this year,” Hagel mentioned.
Fans ought to be ready to put on hats and apply sunscreen as they sit on the doubtless scorching summer season days, he mentioned. While there will probably be some shaded areas, they won’t be plentiful.
“Shade will still be at a premium when people come on campus,” Hagel acknowledged.
The parking scenario will stay the identical because it was final 12 months, with a rotating sequence of shuttle buses going backwards and forwards from Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills, roughly 4.5 miles to the west, with fan parking not allowed at Conway Park.
“The shuttle system made for an easy entry process because of how it spaced out fans arriving on campus. We learned a lot from that,” Hagel mentioned.
With all of the open practices scheduled to start out at 10 a.m. and the ability opening at 9 a.m., the primary buses will depart Hawthorn at 8:30 a.m., with final ones departing the mall at 10:30 a.m., in line with Hagel.
With the practices anticipated to run between 90 minutes to 2 hours, the final buses will depart Halas Hall between 2:00 and a couple of:30 p.m., Hagel mentioned.
To get into camp, followers must go to chicagobears.com/camp, the place they’ll choose as much as 4 cell tickets for the open classes because the crew moved away from final 12 months’s lottery system.
As of Monday, all of the dates have been listed as bought out, however Hagel mentioned the crew plans to make extra tickets — that are free — obtainable after the primary week of camp.
“Fans that might not have been able to get a ticket to this point, we would encourage them to continue checking the websites if additional tickets have been released,” he famous.
Serving as title sponsor for this 12 months’s camp will probably be The Illinois Office of Tourism (IOT), resuming a job it final had in 2019 when coaching camp was at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais.
The tourism workplace desires to lure individuals to return again and go to different elements of the state.
“According to data provided by the Chicago Bears, nearly 20% of fans who attended training camp last year traveled 60 miles or more, and 18% of fans came from outside Illinois, as far away as Alaska, Hawaii and Canada,” famous a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the IOT.
Promotional supplies will probably be obtainable for the state, Lake County and the town of Lake Forest, which sees the camps as a badge of honor for the town.
“There continues to be excitement and pride that Lake Forest gets to host training camp,” neighborhood growth director Catherine Czerniak mentioned. “Last year went very smoothly. There were no surprises, no hiccups. So we are building on that.”
However, Czerniak mentioned she doesn’t anticipate followers leaving observe after which taking in websites and companies within the metropolis.
“We are certainly going to make information about Lake Forest available and encourage people to come back,” she mentioned. “It is a great way to introduce people to Lake Forest. What we did hear (last year) was that after spending hours in the hot sun, most people are probably not inclined to stay around and spend much time in Lake Forest and come back from out west from the parking (site).”
Hagel believes there’s a distinctive perspective offered by the observe classes as he hopes followers make the journey.
“Training camp is one of the neatest, most intimate sports experiences a fan can have,” he mentioned. “Because there are no other opportunities to get as close, or to see a process of getting ready for a season, like this in any other sport.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com