Around 80 young football players had the chance to train with the pros at a free sports camp on Saturday.
Former Winnipeg Blue Bomber defensive tackle Doug Brown hosted the Doug Brown KidSport Football Camp at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation Complex on the University of Manitoba campus.
The camp is for any kid who received funding to play football through KidSport in 2012. It gives participants a taste of what it’s like to go through the same kinds of exercises as players in the professional leagues.
Brown said he likes the program because it helps to break down financial barriers for kids to participate in sports.
“A lot of sport is elitist, in the sense that you have to have some sort of financial wherewithal to participate,” he said.
Along with Brown are several other former teammates including Steve Morley, Chris Greaves, Mike Renaud, Pierre-Luc Labbé, JT Gilmore, Chris Kowalczuk and Paul Swiston.
“It's rewarding to see these professionals share what they've learned and give back to the kids in the community who've earned the opportunity to interact with them," said Brown.
This is the third year Brown has worked with the camp. He said he can see the difference the camp makes in the kids.
“We get a number of kids that repeat, that come back year after year, and they can see how their results improve if they keep working and they try out hard,” he said.
KidSport is a national charity administered by Sport Manitoba that provides support to children facing financial barriers to playing organized sport.
