The Chestermere Chiefs had some celebrity help at their spring training camp May 15.
Former Chiefs player and member of the Alberta U18 team Carter Johnson,16, help to run drills at the club’s training camp at the recreation centre.
“I came here tonight because I like helping out the next generation and hopefully get them where I am today,” said Johnson.
As a member of team Alberta, Johnson will be representing Alberta at a national tournament in Nova Scotia this July.
Having a former player and member of team Alberta helping at practice means a lot to the kids practicing at the camp said Chestermere Chiefs Football Club President Alan Speidel.
“It means a whole lot to these kids to see that you can go from a seven or eight-year-old…and from this grass roots you can follow it through and not only play high school ball but play on the U16 and the U18 Alberta all star teams,” said Speidel.
“Its good to come back and help out where I was helped so much to get where I am today,” said Johnson.
The training night was intended to give returning players a chance to practice their skills and to allow prospective new players to give football a try before committing to a team.
“We bring them out, run some basic drills, show them the equipment,” said Speidel.
“We…kind of try and build some excitement about football and get a few drills under their belt before we start in full gear and hitting and pushing an tackling,” he said.
Since Speidel joined the club, it has expanded from one team to three teams, two atom and one peewee, that cover kids from age seven to 12 years-old.
While they don’t yet have final registration numbers, the season doesn’t start until August, Speidel estimates that they will have between 70 and 90 kids playing football this year.
“Big or small, short or tall, we’ve got positions for everybody in football and every position on the field is important,” he said.
Regular practices start Aug. 1 however, registration is accepted until the end of August.
Speidel wants to continue growing the sport in Chestermere and give kids a chance to participate in sports year-round.
“To me, football is the ultimate team game,” he said, “its very hard for one child to dominate and take over.”
He describes the players on a football team as links in a chain.
“If one link in the chain doesn’t do their job chances are we don’t have a successful play,” said Speidel.
