The best teachers are sometimes still students themselves, or even alumni.
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The Lloydminster Comprehensive Barons took a page from that coaching textbook last weekend as the high school football program welcomed alumni back to mentor players not much younger than the recent graduates now playing at higher levels.
Riley Richardson, a 20-year-old linebacker going into his third year with the University of Alberta Golden Bears, was among five former Barons back in Lloyd for the two-day alumni camp.
“It’s more of a developmental camp, so we’re just making sure these guys learn how to block properly, learn how to tackle properly,” Richardson said between Saturday sessions. “Just learning the basics of football, the right way, so that when they go into high school or bantam football, they have a good foundation.”
Grade 9 student Bennett Fairley appreciated the opportunity to work with Richardson in a small group setting.
“We were doing some footwork, some spacing for zone coverage,” said Fairley, 14. “It’s really cool. He’s really showing all his ways to do things.
“It’s fun that we get to train with these people that played at our school. It’s pretty cool to see how much of role models they are for our team. It’s good to see them in person and learn their strategies, as well as their techniques, to make it to the level they’re at. It’s great.”
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Stepping up to the senior Barons after playing with the junior Barons last fall, Fairley is coming off a strong spring season with the Red Dogs program. Just last week, he was selected as rookie of the year with that community team, comprised of players in grades 9 through 11.
Fairley, five-foot-11 and 175 pounds, quit hockey last year to focus on football as his primary sport. He was among 24 players who attended the alumni camp in fall-like weather Saturday and sunshine Sunday.
“Oh my, it’s quite the gusts of wind,” Fairley said Saturday. “But it’s good to see people are coming out, still, even though the weather (isn’t ideal). It’s great.”
Richardson, a 2023 LCHS graduate who plans to become a teacher and coach, was impressed with the attentiveness of the Barons’ student-athletes.
“It’s a smaller group than we had last year, but the guys we have now, they’re looking pretty natural, honestly, and we’re developing and going through things pretty quickly right now,” he said.
“I guess them looking up to (alumni) guys like us, it gives them probably the blueprint (of a possible path). ‘If I see a guy only four years older than me do it, then I guess I can, too.’
“Some of these guys, too, I played with their older brothers, so they already know me a little bit and I know them a little bit, watching them grow up.”
Now acclimatized to living in a bigger city and studying and playing football at the university level, Richardson has settled into life in Edmonton. He even has a summer job in football operations with the CFL’s Elks, no less.
“Just helping the players,” he said in describing his job profile. “It’s basically getting the U.S. guys accustomed to Canada, so I’m driving them to get their SIN card, or to their hotel, bringing them in from the airport. At practice, I’m shagging balls. On game days, working the iPad, making sure the plays are getting in.
“Being around professionals is good for any football player.”
SHOWS TEACHING TRAITS
For the young Barons, being around some of their own was a central part of the alumni camp.
Another guest instructor on the weekend was receiver Xander Pierce from the LCHS class of 2022. Pierce, now playing with the Saskatoon Hilltops in the Canadian Junior Football League, spent the previous two years in U Sports football with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
The aspiring teacher remains a U of S education student while busy with the Hilltops. His teaching abilities were already evident on the weekend as he worked with the receptive Barons.
Pierce, working as a roofer while home in Lloyd this summer, imparted just how important it is for football players to make the most of the long off-season.
“Oh, absolutely, yeah,” he said. “They say a football season is only about a third of the year, so what are you doing for the other eight months or so? That’s where a lot of teams come together in workouts and getting acquainted with your teammates. Those are the times that you remember, looking back on it especially.”
Remembering his high school days with the Barons, and playing minor football in Lloydminster, Pierce considers it special to return as a role model of sorts.
“It does feel great,” he said. “It’s nice to take a step back and put yourself in their shoes, when you were that age, and think about how awesome it would be to have something like this growing up and be around guys who played at the next level and guys who are still going through their junior or college experience. It’s really exciting.”
One of Pierce’s teammates with the Hilltops is kicker/punter Ryden Gratton, another Barons’ graduate who participated in the alumni camp. Edmonton Wildcats’ junior teammates — and Barons’ alumni — Declan Laing and Sasha Fineday also contributed as guest coaches.
“A lot of great football players came out of Lloyd,” said Pierce, who turns 21 in July. “A couple of guys like Josh Dunham, Matthew Morin and Anton Amundrud are guys that I looked up to and got to play with a little bit. There’s always so much you can take away from guys like that who are so committed and good community guys, too, always wanting to give back.
“It makes it a lot easier to come back here and give back, knowing that other people are doing that for me.”
‘OUTSTANDING YOUNG MEN’
Barons coach Kieran Link said it’s a testament to the character of the alumni players who show up and volunteer their time at the spring camp.
“These guys are excellent teachers,” he said. “I think that’s something we’re really proud of, watching them coach today. They’re outstanding coaches and they’re pretty outstanding young men. So, as a representative of the program, that makes me proud.
“I’m happy that they’re willing to volunteer their time over two days. They’re college kids and they’re all working summer jobs. All these kids are doing manual labour during the week and they gave their weekend up to give back to the program. I really appreciate that.
“It shows their commitment to the program. It shows that, coming through the Comp, you can go on to the next level and be successful, whether it’s junior or U Sports football, so we’re proud of that.”
The Barons ran the alumni camp without some of their multi-sport players who were otherwise occupied with track and field provincials, and lacrosse and baseball league commitments.
“It’s a busy time of year,” Link said. “We’re happy we’ve still got 24 guys here, wanting to get better at football and get coached by some excellent coaches.”
The senior Barons finished their spring training with a scrimmage Monday. The junior Barons continue workouts through a road game June 19 against the Fort Saskatchewan Falcons.
The LCHS senior team kicks off its summer training camp Aug. 21 and plays its first game Sept. 5 at St. Albert.
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