The Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) Mohawks wrapped up another successful spring football camp last week with a good sense of where the team is headed going into the fall.
About 50 players took part in this year's camp, which was held June 6-9. Most of those participating were from HCI itself, with Grade 8 players from St. Augustine and St. Dominic schools also attending. Football hopefuls from Humboldt Public School were unable to take part, however, as they were on their school camping trip.
Mohawks head coach Shaun Gardiner noted this year's camp had a slightly different focus than in seasons past.
"Most of the team is going to be veteran again, so we tried to focus on things like building team spirit, (and) building enthusiasm," he said. "We realize there are a lot of multi-sport kids playing baseball, and some kids are involved in their other sports. So we really didn't do a lot of position-specific type drills.
"We kind of know where our kids are at right now, after the Kelly Bates (camp) and some other Football Saskatchewan activities. So we really tried to keep it fun, keep it fairly loose. We had some contact drills for the kids to get a feel for football. But most of the kids that were at the camp have already played. They already know where they're at."
HCI runs both a junior (Grades 9-10) and senior (9-12) football program, although the two are coached together. The senior team features the best players from Grades 9 through 12, but typically the starters are the Grade 11 and 12 players.
"We don't make any cuts," Gardiner stressed. "I use a kind of qualifying system, and if they qualify during the off-season, then they're eligible to play. So spring camp is just a culmination of hard work in the off-season, just to get them out, get the rust off the gears, and get them ready for next season.
"We try to do it a little differently here."
Gardiner noted that although HCI will be losing 12-14 players to graduation, the team will still have a very good chance to repeat as provincial nine-man football champions.
"It is (quite a few players to replace), but because we were so strong last year, kids (who weren't starters) received a lot of playing time in blowout games and things like that," he said. "So I would say in probably half of the league games, those (Grade) 10s and 11s were already playing.
"Even in the playoffs, we were lucky to be well ahead against Kindersley in the first half, so our second half was all Grade 10 and 11 kids. So a lot of these kids have played quite a bit of football already."
