WESTLOCK — The Westlock Thunderbirds football club is hitting the field next week for their annual spring training camp, which kicks off on May 6.
Head coach Jared DeJong, said the team will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the camp and will run five weeks for junior high players and four weeks for senior high players.
Registration for spring training is open to students in Grades 6 to 12 and takes place in Athabasca May 1 at 4803b 50 Street from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and May 2 in Westlock at R.F. Staples School, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“It’s mostly just to get the kids out there, get them on the field, get them acquainted especially if they’re brand new,” said DeJong. “It’s a great opportunity to ease them into football and help them out, really focusing on basics, fundamentals and skills.”
It’s also a good time to introduce new students to the sport, he noted, adding they “see a lot of newer kids in the spring” because they open the camp up to junior high students.
“So any kids that are currently in Grade 6 that will be (in) Grade 7 in the fall are eligible to join us for our spring camp,” said DeJong, noting they will participate in several jamborees this spring.
Senior high students will finish their camp with a jamboree on May 31, and will showcase things they’ve worked on during the camp, while junior high students will continue with a jamboree circuit — something that began last year and will see them play different teams from the Alberta 6-A-Side Football League, each week.
“We’re going to have four jamborees this year (for juniors),” said DeJong, noting the short 20-minute game. “It’s really just modified game action. It’s got live contact tackling so the kids get used to it, but it doesn’t have all the extra special teams and elements of football that we have in the fall.”
The T-Birds are hosting a junior high jamboree on May 30 on the field behind R.F. Staples School and will welcome four other teams.
DeJong noted the positive impact spring training, including the weekly jamborees, have on the regular season in the fall.
“They show up in the fall and they’ve got some game action under their belts … even before they get to Grade 9, Grade 10 high school,” said DeJong. “It really makes a big difference and it’s really going to lead to a lot of, I believe, sustained success.”
