Football comes indoors this weekend

Junior football spring camps are still a few months away.

In Prince George, all of the outdoor fields are unlikely to be open until May. But that hasn’t stopped coaches from taking advantage of indoor facilities.

This weekend, football practices for high school students will unfold in the fieldhouse of the Northern Sport Centre at UNBC. Regional tryouts for Football BC’s provincial program (Grade 10 and 11) and the Senior Bowl (Grade 12) are being held at the NSC on Saturday. Also on Saturday, Prep to Be the Best tryouts will take place, practices which offer younger students (Grades 7 to 9) an opportunity to get evaluated.

Tryout times are: 11 a..m. to 1 p.m. for Team BC, 1 to 2:30 p.m. for Prep to Be the Best, and 1 to 3 p.m. for Senior Bowl. Players have been asked to arrive 30 minutes before the start of the sessions to register and pay a $10 tryout fee.

Helmets and shoulder pads are required for each player in the second half of the tryout, with no pads required for Prep to Be the Best participants.

“We’re expecting there to be a good turnout of guys there. It’ll be a good showing,” Prince George Minor Football Association president Ryan Bellamy said. “It’s a great opportunity for guys to try out and get (identified) for the provincial team and stuff like that, and seasonal tryouts. A lot of quality seniors so there will probably be a good handful of guys that’ll make it to the Senior Bowl, and the last few years it keeps growing on how many kids get invited to the provincial ID camps and stuff like that.”

The Senior Bowl, every March in Vancouver, is a high school showcase of top Grade 12 players in B.C. After a week-long camp with sessions run by top football coaches, including BC Lions representatives, an East versus West all-star game takes place.

The Team BC tryout on Saturday is the initial phase in the selection a provincial team. Kelly Road Roadrunners defensive lineman Travis Shields made Team BC’s 40-player roster for the 2011 Football Canada Cup last July in Lethbridge. Vanderhoof running back Kyle Varley was a reserve on that squad.

“As soon as they start to see a couple of players come out of this area, actually making the team, they come back and start looking closely for that next player,” said Bellamy, who’s also the Roadrunners’ coach.

Also this weekend, the PGMFA is holding its AGM on Saturday, 4 p.m. at the NSC.