Edwin Parr Composite’s Pacers football club is on the field for their annual spring camp.
Each year the team suits up for a number of practices throughout the month of May, well in advance of the fall season. It’s an opportunity for the veteran players to work off some of the winter rust and familiarize themselves with any playbook changes their coaches have made. The camp also serves as a chance for new players to come out and try the sport for the first time.
The camp began with equipment fitting on April 30. The camp has been free to try in advance of Wednesday’s registration night (6:15 p.m. at EPC) in order to give the newcomers the chance to see if the sport is for them.
Kids who plan to stick with the camp (and the team) pay $100 in the spring and $150 in the fall.
With 12 newcomers giving the camp a try and a core of veteran players returning, the Pacers are looking strong.
“It’s a good sign. Last year our numbers were down. We still have room for more,” said Pacers head coach Pete Burden. “We match up a veteran with a rookie so they can do the teaching, and that really helps. It speeds up the learning process.”
The spring camp has proven to be of critical importance for the team in years past, especially for new players. That’s because there is so much to learn about the game of football even before you suit up and head out on the field, according to the coach.
That’s why, aside from the extensive work on the field, there are also classroom sessions where the team goes over all the game’s finer points.
“The new kids just have to get the time in so they start to understand the game a little bit. At least the coaches are out on the field evaluating on every play,” said Burden. “In the fall they’ve got to know everything themselves. For first-time players, to throw them out into a game, it’s so tough. We’ll get them ready to go for when it’s real.”
The team will have at least a couple of opportunities to simulate real play during the camp. They have an exhibition game set up in High River over the May long weekend, and they’ll welcome Lac La Biche for an exhibition game near the end of camp before going to Grande Prairie on June 2 for a jamboree.
“We spend a lot of time on the basics of tackling and blocking. We want to be more physical this year,” said the coach. “Just making sure everyone’s got the proper technique, how to tackle and be tackled. And footwork, footwork, footwork. There aren’t many sports where you have to run backwards.”
By the end of camp, the kids will have been on the field a number of times and will be that much closer to being ready for this fall’s season.
