Munificent Milt running spring skills camp at U of W

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This article was published 22/11/2014 (4003 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There is only one Milt Stegall, of course, but for years the Bomber legend joked the only way he’d coach is if the team “was all Milt Stegalls.”

Well, this spring he’ll get his chance, as he guides 85 hand-picked teens through the Milt Stegall High Performance Skills Camp.

On May 23 and 24, a squadron of 15 quarterbacks, 35 receivers and 35 defensive backs will converge on the University of Winnipeg’s shiny new fieldhouse for a two-day football blitz. The athletes, who will be between the ages of 13 and 17, will learn a little bit of everything, starting with throwing mechanics for quarterbacks and hand placement for receivers. You know, the basics.

“This happens at every level, guys don’t know how to place their hands when the ball is coming to ’em,” said Stegall after a press conference at U of W Friday afternoon. “When it comes to DBs, it’s all about getting in and out of breaks… that’s putting everything in a quick nutshell. Those three things are maybe the most important things to learn in every position, if you want to be successful.”

Stegall ran development camps in Winnipeg in 2010 and 2011, but scheduling and then stadium conflicts put it on hiatus. He always wanted to get back to it, he said, especially as the Ohio native still considers Winnipeg his “other home.” The fact some of the proceeds from the camp will go to support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Winnipeg makes it even better: “As a kid, I was so fortunate,” he said. “I see kids now who just don’t have those opportunities… you just want to give a kid a chance.”

Speaking of which, not all of the lessons Stegall plans to teach are about what plays out on the field. The camp will have a “life lessons” component too, which, after a difficult year around the NFL, couldn’t be more timely.

“That’s what I’ll talk about, being good people,” said Stegall, who famously doesn’t swear. “We’re going to be tough, but we’re always uplifting. If you treat everybody fairly, you’ll get that respect back.”

Stegall won’t be the only big football name leading the drills, and organizers plan to announce other guest coaches further down the road.

Football Manitoba executive director Shawn Coates said it will be a high level of instruction — one that fills a key gap in Football Manitoba’s development calendar, a bridge between the basics and high-performance for kids in their early to mid-teens.

“We’re lacking that middle ground, where kids can transition their introduction to the game to the high level of the game,” he said. “From a competitive standpoint, that’s important… we’re going to be doing more camps, and more specialty clinics. We’ve got other people like Milt, we’ve got our eyes on having similar camps.”

Learning football in Manitoba isn’t the same as in the U.S., but Stegall doesn’t see that as a barrier.

“All the parents in the States think their kids are going pro, and they’re going to spend all this money getting them trained,” he said. “So by the time they’re 14, 15, some of these kids are pretty advanced. But regardless of when you start or how much training you get, if you put in the work you’re going to be successful. It’s not going to be easy all the time.”

Registration for the 2015 Milt Stegall High Performance Skills Camp will open online in mid-January at FootballManitoba.com.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca