The Muskie spring football camp, which wrapped up last week, doesn’t carry the same glitz as homecoming weekend but the coaches were pleased with the results and now are ready to begin the slow evaluation process towards tryouts later this summer.
Almost 70 players turned out for the seven-day camp (spread out over two weeks), which consisted of sprinting, catching, and mobility exercises.
“We want to see athleticism,” said Muskie head coach Bob Swing. “You’re always going to see effort and attitude but we wanted to get a look at how these kids move and how they’ve improved from last year.”
“There were a lot of faces I didn’t recognize so it’s a good thing to see new guys come out,” noted Muskie linebacker Dan Poperechny, a grade 11 student at Fort High.
While the camp usually attracts close to 100 players, Swing said his coaching staff’s evaluation process won’t be as thorough if new faces show up in August.
“It’s tough on [the walk-ons]. If more kids come out, it just gives us less time to look at them.”
There will be one more meeting after exam week in June to hand out the practice schedule for the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams. Word on the ‘C’ team will be announced at a later date.
In the meantime, Swing said the non-contact camp got his players–and prospective ones–thinking about what they’ll need to do this summer to be ready for the NorWOSSA season this fall.
“We believe if you don’t understand the fundamentals, you’re going to get hurt,” he stressed.
Poperechny added these camps are just the start of a lot of work which awaits the entire team.
“[Swing] puts everything on our shoulders,” he said. “These spring camps were just tests. Now he expects us to improve over the summer so we’ll be ready in the fall.”
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
