It was another successful spring of football for the St. Patrick Fighting Saints. The arrival of June marked our annual junior and senior camps, as well as another visit to the University of Minnesota-Duluth (UMD) for their team camp.
The senior camp opened on Thursday, June 4 and then continued the whole next week culminating in a multi-team scrimmage at the Fort William Stadium on Friday, June 12. Besides the mandatory preparation, it was an excellent primer for the upcoming trip to UMD.
Tackling progression, June 2015.
First play, June 2015.
The two day junior mini-camp ran Monday, June 15 and Tuesday, June 16. It was very well attended, with over 30 Grade 8’s and 9’s present, many of whom had never played football before.
Junior camp, June 2015.
Junior camp, June 2015.
On Thursday, June 25 our program headed south for our fifth trip to the UMD team football camp. The squad consisted of 25 Grade 9, 10 and 11 players plus 8 junior and senior coaches. We would be joined at the camp by three other teams from Thunder Bay; Churchill, Hammarskjold and our sister school and chief rivals, St. Ignatius.
We left bright and early at 7:00 for the 3.5 hour trip to Duluth and after a brief stop for lunch, proceeded to the UMD campus to check in. While the team were directed to their rooms by their UMD chaperone Taylor, the coaches had to quickly get to their rooms and then hustle to Malosky Field for the first of several coaches meetings.
Lunch break, June 2015.
Coaches meeting, June 2015.
By 2:00 the players were on the field for team and individual workouts. After a supper break, the players got to experience their first scrimmage against one of the many American teams in camp. I think everyone was excited to play some real football!
UMD, June 2015.
Day two, or the “killer day” began at 7:00 for the players with wake up and breakfast. They would need the fuel for 3 sessions of football; morning, afternoon and evening. The day was again filled with team, individual and scrimmage times, highlighted by the first “King of the Hill” contest of the camp.
UMD, June 2015.
UMD, June 2015.
At the end of the evening session, all the teams participated in an interesting contest. Each school was required to select 10 players to compete, 3 of whom had to tip the scales at over 220 pounds. All 10 then had to clear a 5 foot high jump through the use of team work. Our boys put in a good showing, getting down to the last jumper, but that bar was just too much for one guy to surmount.
High jump contest, June 2015.
The final day was going to be the shortest, but the most intense. After breakfast, the players were off to the last round of individual workouts, followed by more scrimmages and another King of the Hill contest. It was sad to see the camp come to an end, but after all of that football, everyone was physically and mentally out of gas. Coach Curt Wiese and his staff once again put on an amazing camp and we look forward to attending again in the future!
Team photo, June 2015.
UMD, June 2015.
Team photo, June 2015.
Fighting Saints Football 