Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs football team head coach Mark Schott was impressed with the speed and athleticism of the players who showed up for the club’s spring camp last week.
Approximately 30 players attended the camp, which was held from May 8 to 12 at the school’s practice field. They participated in drills during the first four days of the camp to build their abilities, and then they played in a Blue versus White intersquad game on Friday afternoon.
Team Blue defeated Team White 21-7. Each team had nine players on the field, as opposed to the conventional 12.
“I think we had a lot of new faces out this week, which was exciting and encouraging,” said Schott. “It’s a really athletic group, and a young group, so it’s a group that hopefully can grow together and mature and get that experience over the next couple of years, and make some noise in the Moose Jaw (High School Football League).”
The Elecs changed their approach to tackling at spring camp, and Schott said they saw some really good results as camp progressed. He admitted it created an adjustment for those who have been playing football for a number of years.
“We also emphasized that we’re a young group,” said Schott. “We’re growing together and we need to use our speed as a group. During our scrimmage today, we saw a lot of really athletic plays being made, and a lot of speed on the field,” said Schott.
The players were excited to be at camp, he said, and eager to learn, which is something the coaches want to see.
Schott noted some of the players who have been through the Estevan Minor Football program were on the field for camp, and looked great, including Hunter Eagles, Jonah Bachorcik and Rylan Erdelyan. They made some big plays out there.
“We had some returning players come back as well, and we could see some of their growth and maturation from year to year as well,” said Schott.
Schott noted they had 16 to 18 players who attended camp every day. Some players were there for a few days or just once.
He stressed it’s a busy time of year, and many of the players have commitments that keep them from participating each day.
About half of the players who showed up were on last year’s team.
Schott hopes all of the players will be back in August, when the team starts to practice for the start of football season. And they will accept players who couldn’t attend spring camp.
