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Stanford, 49ers Youth Camp Focuses On Leadership

PALO ALTO (KCBS) – Leadership and balancing school and athletics are the main messages at the annual Stanford University and San Francisco 49ers youth football camp.

One hundred middle school boys have gathered on the university's Palo Alto campus, along with current and former coaches, players and dignitaries.

On Tuesday, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and San Francisco 49ers owner Dr. John York offered lessons for the campers. Dr. York spoke about his passion for learning.

KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:

"We can start by setting little goals for ourselves," he said.

San Jose 8th grader Gary Walker was paying close attention.

"I look up to him. He was our leader and he owns one of my favorite teams," he said.

Rice knows a thing or two about football as her dad used to be a coach.

"There is strategy to football on every single play and that's what I really love about it," Rice said. She talked about an experience she had in high school, where she was told by a counselor that she was not college material. She called that underestimation "racism of the worst kind."

"You have to really step up for yourself," she said.

This is the sixth year of the Youth Impact Program to the Bay Area. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to at-risk middle school boys living in inner cities across the nation.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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