University of Manitoba Bisons players and Winnipeg Blue Bombers alumni will be in Thompson again this June as the Hope North suicide prevention committee puts on its fourth flag football camp in six years.
Up to 200 male and female children and youth aged nine to 17 will take part in the camp, which will be held June 3-5.
“We already have a bunch of kids signed up,” says Kurtis Stolth, a former University of Manitoba Bisons football player who moved to Thompson to work with the health authority’s community mental health team. He organized the first camp in 2011 to introduce organized football to the north, using the camp as a way to promote the game in outlying communities and also to promote life and prevent suicide through the power of sport. The camp is free for participants, but they must register prior to April 15 in order to take part.
Blue Bombers alumni who will take part in the camp as volunteer coaches include Brett McNeil and Donald Burrell, while 30 University of Manitoba football players will fill the same roles. Unlike past camps , no current members of the Blue Bombers will be able to attend due to scheduling issues.
“[The Blue Bombers’ players] could only get up here the first week of May,” said Stolth, which is too early for the camp in Thompson, given that there was snow in 2011 when the camp was held on the last weekend of May. The team is supporting the camp in other ways, however. “They’re really big into helping us right now.”
The camp will also be supported by local McDonald’s owner Brett O’Meara, who will donate proceeds from the McHappy Day fundraiser that takes place on May 4 this year.
And while volunteers are easy to find, Stolth says sponsors are always needed, since it costs about $30,000 to put on the camp, which is supported by Football Canada and Football Manitoba.
Stolth is also working with the Boys & Girls Club of Thompson to make sure that flag football isn’t just a once-a-year thing in Thompson. The plan is to have drop-in flag football every week.
“You don’t need many people to play flag football,” Stolth says. “It looks like we’re going to have lots of interest.”
Registration forms are available at the Northern Regional Health Authority administration building and can be submitted in person or by fax. For more information about the flag football camp, contact Stolth at 204-677-5364 or by email at kstolth@nrha.ca.
