The Westlock Thunderbirds football club is gearing up for the fall season with a month-long camp for new and returning players.
For three days a week in May, players will brush-up on existing skills and develop new ones.
T-Bird coach Jon Kramer said the camp is a great opportunity for current Grade 9 to 11 students to get an introduction to the game.
“Training camp is basically a way to introduce our new athletes, and even the ones who have played before, to the game,” Kramer said. “We teach them the rules, the fundamental movements, and we spend a lot of time on safer contact, so the proper way to give a hit and take a hit.”
Players will also learn a selection of offensive and defensive football plays. Camp concludes with a jamboree on Saturday, May 30.
“We’ll have four or five teams playing a bunch of mini-games — it kind of looks like Canadian Football League’s overtime format,” Kramer said. “It’s sort of a way for them to put what we’ve taught into practice against teams they haven’t seen.”
The jamboree, Kramer said, is always lots of fun for players, coaches and fans.
“Quite a few fans come out and catch it,” he said. “It’s a really fun day, but it’s a learning environment too so when we play those games there’s no special teams. The coaches are on the field, so it’s a lot less pressure than what you’d find in the fall.”
Kramer said the camp is a fun way for players to learn the sport at a relatively low cost.
“We provide the equipment, so the only cost really is the insurance and registration,” he said. “So if players do like it at the end of May, they can sign up and carry on with us into the fall. It’s really a cheap and easy way for them to learn football and make an educated decision about (joining) in the fall.”
Since football isn’t as prevalent in the community as hockey or lacrosse, Kramer says many kids aren’t familiar with it.
“We’ve been around for a while, but compared to some of the other sports in town, it’s a new sport around,” he said.
“Lots of our athletes don’t have parents who played. But we’re starting to get into where there’s the older sibling and people they know who have played, but for a lot of these guys, football is quite new.”
Kramer said camp includes three days of in-class Xs and Os before players hit the field for the final three weeks.
The final day of registration takes place Tuesday, April 21 from 6-8 p.m. at the front office of R.F. Staples School. Registrants are required to bring their Alberta Health Cards and birth certificates.
