The whizzing of footballs and the stomping of feet could be heard ringing out through the campus of St. Peter’s College as the 12th Annual Kelly Bates Football Camp made their annual stop.
This year’s camp featured 96 football players between grades 8 and 11, with players broken up by position.
Seeing so many kids coming year over year is amazing, says Bates, especially with so many other things available for kids to participate in.
“That’s what I’m so damn proud of is that we keep selling out. I think it’s a testament to the community, the community support, a testament to the coaching staff that comes in, and just how well run it is. I’m just very proud of everything to do with it.”
A total of 15 coaches were brought in from all over the country to help Bates run the camp including current and former CFL players and coaches, as well as a number of Saskatchewan based coaches.
Bates says being able to bring those coaches in is an important part of the camp, because it gives the kids a fresh voice.
“What we’re teaching you doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right because there are a million different ways to do things. We’re giving you a set of tools to put in your toolbox, take back to your team and if they fit in great, if not you have them for a rainy day,” he said.
“You’re trying to create specialization. We talked all weekend about the fact that success can be defined many different ways, it’s the combination of expertise and hard work.”
Of course with students from teams from across the province, the camp featured players who participated in a number of different versions of football, including 6, 9 and 12 man.
Despite the kids coming from different football backgrounds, Bates notes there is no difference for them when it comes to teaching, noting football is football.
“Moving your body in an efficient way, it’s still the same thing. Creating great body balance, it doesn’t really matter what level or kind of football it is. And that’s the great thing about this camp is it’s based on fundamentals and when you focus on coaching fundamentals you can have people of all walks, sizes, and ages. As long as they’re working hard, that’s what matters.”
Over the course of the weekend football players spent time in the classroom reviewing film, on the practice field working on skills, and in the gym working on strength.
Having spent time with the kids in each of elements of the camp, the one thing that stood out most to Bates was their work ethic, he said.
“You always want to see work ethic but the effort and work ethic was outstanding and it didn’t die down at any point. And it sure makes it easy to coach when you have kids that want to be coached.”
Overall, Bates was really pleased with how the camp went, noting the feedback he received was quite positive.
“I was very happy with the camp… just from the positive vibe that’s in here, it was a successful weekend. At the end of the day, building relationships is what’s most important and it was a great weekend for that.”
The great weekend, which concluded with the awards segment, had a very special moment, as Bates was proud to announce the camp would be making a $1,000 donation to Humboldt Collegiate Institute athletics on behalf of Tyler Beiber, who was a big supporter of the Kelly Bates Camp.
“That’s very important to me. Tyler’s love of football combined with his love for coaching high school sports was huge,” he said.
“On top of that, the teaching staff and coaching staff that were present when I was here are directly responsible for any success that I’ve had in football or otherwise. To continue to help contribute to that environment is very important to me.”
Bates announced to the kids during the awards presentation that he looks forward to seeing them back for year 13 next spring.
