Sackville Minor Football players will play host to several special guests this year during their upcoming spring training camp.
CFL players defensive tackle Darrell Campbell of the Montreal Alouettes and running back Andre Durie and defensive tackle Étienne Légaré, both of the Toronto Argonauts, along with Mounties football coach Kelly Jeffrey will participate with local certified coaches from minor, high school, and university football for the annual event this May.
“We are excited about having professional players and coaches provide football skills programming for our young players in conjunction with local volunteers,” says Sackville Minor Football Association’s Ian McIntyre.
“For a small town, young players receive high-calibre instruction much like you would find in a major city. It is one of those rare opportunities for kids to come face-to-face with professionals.”
Upwards of 70 participants are expected to take part in the training camp.
Toronto Argonauts president and CEO Bob Nicholson says the Argos are committed to building the game of football throughout Canada and the team is thrilled to support Sackville Minor Football Association at this year’s spring camp.
“We’ll be making Moncton and its surrounding area our home for an entire week in September and starting immediately our goal is to become a part of the community,” says Nicholson.
“Fans can expect this to be the beginning of a powerful bond that we intend to build throughout the region through a variety of community and grassroots events over the coming months.”
The Toronto Argonauts will take on the Edmonton Eskimos at Université de Moncton on Sept. 26 for Touchdown Atlantic, the first regular season CFL game ever played in Atlantic Canada. A capacity crowd of more than 20,000 fans is expected for the match-up, although plans are also under way to ensure the game caps a full weekend of entertainment, food and football – including a number of high school and university games, a street festival, tailgate party and a whole lot more.
The Sackville Minor Football Association spring camp will take place at the Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre field from Friday, May 7 to Sunday, May 16, with weekday times slated from 4-5 p.m. and weekend hours from 1-2:30 p.m. Registration was held earlier this week.
The minor football association provides football skills programming for both boys and girls to learn and participate in a highly-competitive and supportive environment.
In the past seven years, the program has expanded from Pee Wee (12-and-13-year-olds) and Bantam (14-and-15-year-olds) to include an Atom (ages 10 and 11) and Mosquito (ages eight and nine) divisions.
The organization is an associate member of the Moncton Football Association. Despite the community’s small size, players have experienced considerable success against areas with significantly larger population bases such as Moncton.
Atom players hold the 2009 Moncton City Championship title, while Pee Wee players boast back-to-back Moncton City Championship banners from 2008 and 2009. Last year the Pee Wee team came within six points of winning the New Brunswick provincial title. Over the past 11 years, Pee Wee teams have won the city championship seven times. Success is the result of the dedication and hard work of players, coaches, volunteers and committed parents.
Also key to the program’s success is the support of the community’s sponsors (including The Business Development Bank of Canada, Nesbitt Burns, the town of Sackville, Konica Minolta Business Solutions (Canada) Ltd., and Mount Allison University’s leadership and football programs.)
Wray Perkin, a second-year Mount A student and manager for Mounties Football, formed connections with CFL player Darrell Campbell while working as an equipment assistant for the Montreal Alouettes in June 2009.
The idea to marry professionals with the local area football club has been in the makings since Christmas.
With help from the Mount A Leadership program, which fosters the nurturing and development of leadership skills of students, Perkin was able to develop a new take on the traditional spring camp.
“It is not just about broadening the horizons of Sackville’s young football enthusiasts but about uniting football players of every single level in Canada, from mosquito to professionals,” he says.
