May 31, 2017
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CJFL spring update: ID camps for the month of May

With Spring camps in full swing at all levels of football across the country, the CJFL teams have been busy identifying their new crop of players and future additions for their main camps.

The Saskatoon Hilltops, Regina Thunder, Westshore Rebels, Edmonton Huskies, Calgary Colts, and Edmonton Wildcats, have all held their camps in the early part of May as well as the VI Raiders, Langley Rams, and Valley Huskers in British Columbia.

The Valley Huskers and VI Raiders will both be operating under new direction in Doug Hocking for the Raiders and Bob Reist will be leading the Huskers for the first time as head coach. Both teams were expecting between 70-90 players. With some headliners as guest coaches, both head coaches are looking to evaluate the players skills and abilities with as many expert eyes as possible.

The Edmonton Wildcats limited their player intake to 100 in order to have all players get as many reps as possible in order to be evaluated and give head coach, Darcy Park a better idea of what his team is looking like going into the season. They, too, will have a number of returning alumni to help out with the coaching.

Also getting their spring camp in early was the Regina Thunder who looked to identify their incoming talent at the end of April. They go into the 2017 season with the goal of returning to their championship days of 2013 when they were the Canadian Champions.

Also under new leadership are the Westshore Rebels who saw Charly Cardilicchia take over for JC Boice. The defending champs will have a few holes to fill as some key players moved up to U Sports. Alumni guest coaches included some CFL players and will no doubt were a welcome resource during camp.

In the middle part of May, the Winnipeg Rifles and Kamloops Broncos opened their spring camps with Geordie Wilson at the helm for the Rifles. They were expecting approximately 130-140 players, and with not many guest coaches in attendance, the Rifle coaching staff will have the sole responsibility of evaluating rookies and veterans alike.

For the Broncos, head coach Brad Yamaoka will be looking to fill the role of running back Jacob Palmarin who committed to the University of Regina for 2017. They will be relying heavily on quarterback Colby Henkel, Rookie of the Year, and the receiving core to help with this transition.

Finally, this past weekend, the Okanagan Sun had a terrific camp weather wise in Kelowna. Head coach Ben Macauley will be leading his veteran group who are looking for redemption after their loss in the conference final last year and had multiple alumni in attendance to help with the ID camp.

The Niagara Regional Raiders and the GTA Grizzlies also hosted their spring camps in the Ontario conference, hopeful that they will ID as many players as possible for the opening of their main camps.

Source: CJFL.org

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