By Robin Tarnowetzki
Journal Staff Writer
[email protected]
The Elgar Petersen Arena briefly turned into a scene from the Princess Bride when kids from Humboldt and area learned to fence with John Brunning of the Saskatoon Fencing Club.
The fencing course is the fourth of six camps total put on by the city of Humboldt. The camps were organized at the suggestion of Mayor Malcolm Eaton.
"I was kind of feeling things out, and it was something that he wanted to see for that middle age range," said recreation program coordinator, Michelle Smith. "The museum does art camps and theatre camps and we have a summer fun program, but there were no sports, so this came out of that blank spot."
She added that if kids were visiting their grandparents, then the camps were a good way to get them out of the house for a few hours.
Though it is the first year for the camps, Smith says she plans to continue the camps annually.
"So far good," she said. "Could always be better, but we've had at least four to five kids at every session."
Each camp is split into two sessions: ages seven to 12 attends in the morning, and 13 to 17 attends in the afternoon, though so far the afternoon sessions haven't been as well-attended as the morning sessions. The first half of the fencing camp drew 16 kids, while the afternoon drew only four.
Another concern of Smith's is drawing more girls to the camps. So far, attendance has been overwhelmingly male. For next year, she hopes to have more female-friendly camps. She was in the process of getting a cheerleading camp, but the person she had been coordinating with stopped replying to her e-mails.
"It's definitely been a higher number of boys that come out than girls, so I'd kind of like to see that balance off a little bit," Smith said.
She added the cheerleading is definitely on the list for next year.
Kids have come from places like Lanigan and St. Brieux for the camps, and one participant from Saskatoon has come out for all of them so far.
"I'm hoping that they get that not all sports are hard and you don't have to be good at something to come out and try it, maybe find a new passion if we're that lucky," Smith said. "Just get out and get active."
