About 90 local kids enjoyed the chance to learn a few football tricks and some life lessons from a team of current and former Saskatchewan Roughriders at the Don Narcisse All-Star Event at Chow Field on Sunday.
“It helped me a lot with footwork and how to improve my speed and running,” said James Knibbs, 13, who regularly suits up with the Estevan Lions Club bantam Steelers. “It’s really special to actually know professional athletes who have made this a lifestyle for them, like more than the game.”
The 90 football enthusiasts, who ranged from seven to 16 years old, were placed into an age-specific group at the camp with each rotating through five stations focused on different football fundamentals. The non-contact camp was open to any interested kids and featured such activities as jumping over bags, running around pylons and tackling the bags, but the game plan for Narcisse and the coaches was to mainly teach life skills rather than positional play.
“I never got a chance to meet a professional athlete at a young age and by doing this I fulfilled a lot of kid’s dreams because I know I missed out,” said Narcisse, who played wide receiver for the Riders from 1987 to 1999. “I met my first professional athlete (James Murphy of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers) when I was 21 years old, so giving these kids (a chance) to meet one at a young age (is great) and I know by meeting a professional athlete what things it can do.”
Narcisse said meeting Murphy in his graduating year at Texas Southern University gave him a role model to emulate. He said Murphy was a small and not-so-quick receiver that caught 100 passes in a single season and made it to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and his goal as a physically similar player was to match that success, so holding these camps gives the next generation a chance to also seize that opportunity.
“It was fun,” said Steelers player Jonathan Swirski, 13. “They know how you have to play to make it into the big leagues, so they can help you at that.”
Kevin Mortenson, president of Penta Completions Estevan Minor Football, said Narcisse played a big part to help ensure the football camp went ahead by lowering the cost of registration from $80 to $40. He noted that act of kindness was matched by PotashCorp, which covered the registration costs of close to 30 kids.
“The kids are going to realize that we have to work on our footwork,” said Mortenson, noting the Regina Thunder are also putting on a camp in Estevan on June 12 and registration is still open for that. “It’s not all about catching the football and running for a touchdown. You have to have that speed and agility and focus. They need that focus to succeed at this game, just like anything in life.”
Narcisse said this is his sixth year running football camps across Saskatchewan with each stop raising money for a charity of choice. He said $300,000 has been raised so far and the goal is to keep fulfilling kid’s dreams.
“This year I was raising money for Red Cross Imagine No Bullying, so it’s just great to be doing this,” said Narcisse. “I tell the players who are playing that people remember what you did off the field rather than what you did on the football field.
“People do not remember you because you have a helmet on, but when you do things in the community. Stuff like this, they remember it for the rest of their lives.”
