THUNDER BAY - For 10-year-old Koen Horne, loving football while living in what has traditionally been known as a hockey town can be tough. But even Thunder Bay has its own football stars and having the opportunity to train with one has really helped his game.
“They teach us a lot of stuff to do in our game and how to be a better football player,” he said.
Koen has been participating in the PRO Kids Training with a Pro: Football Edition day for the last three years and leading the training for the third year in a row was CFL Ottawa Redblacks player, Nigel Romick.
“It’s awesome seeing their faces and the smiles,” Romick said. “I hope they look up to me. I didn’t have a football figure when I was playing football. It was all hockey, hockey, hockey, there were no pros. So it’s pretty awesome.”
Romick was born and raised in Thunder Bay and started playing football in Grade 10 at St. Patrick’s High School. He would go on to play for the Saint Mary’s Huskies and was later drafted by the Ottawa Redbacks in 2014. Two years later, the Redbacks won the Grey Cup.
When he first started playing, Romick said football was still just an up-and-coming sport in Thunder Bay, but that has changed a lot since he first took to the field.
“Football wasn’t a thing back in the day but it started growing into a football community with Thunder Bay Minor Football Association and OFSSA was in Ottawa this year and I saw the Falcons out there, so it’s good to see the kids growing into it,” he said.
During the Training with a Pro session, 36 youth between the ages of five and 13-years-old went through various dry-land drills including running, passing, tackling, and quick games of two-hand touch.
Joining Romick on the field were several players with the University of Ottawa football team and coaches from St. Patrick’s High School.
“It’s pretty interesting to see what they’ve learnt throughout their years, and where they started to get so good, and how they got so good and what they did to get into the CFL,” said 13-year-old Nathan Malcnch, who was participating in Training with a Pro for the second year.
Nathan plays as a linebacker in the minor football league and he said football has always been his favourite sport.
“Mostly being active and tackling people as hard as you can and at the end you help them up,” he said. “It’s a very friendly sport and it’s fun to get that contact in.”
PRO Kids works to provide youth facing financial barriers an opportunity to play sports and Laura Daniele, coordinator with PRO Kids, said it is the kids who make the Training with a Pro sessions such a success.
“The kids have been supporting this clinic for the last three years,” she said. “They really like to come back and hang out with Nigel for a couple of hours. There is a great football community and we have a lot of football spirit in the community so the kids bring that forward and really enjoy the afternoon.”
The cost of participating in the training session was $50 and this year it raised more than $2,100, with all the money going towards supporting PRO Kids programming. Hockey and baseball editions of Training with a Pro are also offered during the year with celebrity athletes sharing their knowledge and skills with youth.
“Nigel loves to come back and we are really happy about that,” Daniele said. “It’s an opportunity to let people know that you can be a football star coming from Thunder Bay. He’s great with the kids and he enjoys them and they enjoy each other. There are lots of smiles and lots of fun.”
“It’s nice seeing the kids come back for their third time,” Romick added. “This is the third time. I kind of know these kids now and its good to see them every year and improve their football skills.”
And the kids are starting to get to know Romick, too, which makes the training not only valuable for those aspiring to be the next big football star to come out of Thunder Bay, but also a lot of fun.
“Not a lot of people get to meet a CFL player and I got to meet him three times, so it’s really nice,” Koen said.
