Musings for Monday May 7th with half of our clubs having hosting spring camps this past weekend…

This weekend the Rams, Raiders and Rebels held their annual spring camps while this Saturday and Sunday the Sun and Broncos put their prospects through their paces. The Valley Huskers wrap things up May 25/27 before signing day June 1. The past couple weeks there has been a bit of grumbling from at least a couple of our clubs on the benefit or lack thereof to holding spring camps in the first place and the logic of a June 1 signing date.

On the issue of springs camps…putting on such a camp is no small feat for our clubs when so many of the players are brought in from out of town. Between travel arrangements, accommodations and feeding the players, not to mention the time involved in the camp itself, it’s a taxing event on a team volunteer base that is usually already stretched thin. Having so many players come in from out of town just to send them back home and say “see you in a month for main camp” maybe doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is an opportunity of course for coaches to assess talent on their own field, seeing a high school player battle head to head with an older player rather than just another high school competitor goes a long way. Not to mention the opportunity it gives the player as well for them to see for themselves how they match up and if the team is a good fit for them.

Still, it’s interesting that this year more than years past there seems to be some second guessing of the whole process in this province. As much work as it is for the team, the pressure on players to make an extra trip in from out of town is presumably an issue for them as well…one that they might just be happy to skip altogether. It will be interesting to see if the concept of scaling down or eliminating spring camps altogether gains some traction this off season.

It’s a situation where if one team holds a camp, the others really are forced to follow suit or they risk their competitor getting a leg up in the recruiting war. Does it make sense for the teams to request a conference wide rules on such camp?

The June 1 signing date has been a national deadline the past few years, brought into play to give some order to the signing of players and prevent teams from signing too many players, too quickly before the player had the opportunity to perform his due diligence as to what team to sign with.

Teams have generally been remiss to announce commitments from players before the June 1 date in order to prevent the other teams “getting wind” of a blue-chip prospect playing for them. There is always the risk of a player changing his mind before the June 1 date and jumping ship to another team. Langley Rams head coach Snoop Blokker has been vocal that while this date is fine for players coming straight out of high school, perhaps there should be a much earlier date for players moving from CIS schools to junior. The idea that these players, who have all reached the age of majority should be able to sign earlier has some credence. It would give a BCFC club that ability to gain some valuable off season press by signing players, without any risk of losing them to another club who may attempt to swoop in and poach a player who has committed but wasn’t able to actually sign with a club.

The June 1 date is a national date imposed by the CJFL, so changing it would require the agreement of all the teams across the country. I don’t know how many clubs in the CJFL, let alone the BCFC would be receptive to adjusting the signing process for CIS players, but it will likely make for some interesting discussion this season.

If the CJFL were to decide against a change at the national level, could the BCFC have its own in-conference signing date and rules for CIS players committing to a team in the conference? There is some merit to having a conference “letter of intent” that the BCFC considers binding in that if the player signs one with a specific BCFC team he would be considered the property of that club should he play in the BCFC.

Speaking of the CIS, the CFL held its annual draft this past week. A name known in BCFC circles was drafted in the second round by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as the club took receiver Rashaun Simonise 12th overall. Simonise was listed as a draft pick out of the University of Calgary despite the fact he hadn’t played for the Dinos since 2015. Simonise actually spent the last two seasons with the Okanagan Sun, or at least he spent the last half of each of the last two years with the Sun.

I don’t know why the CFL didn’t list Simonise as playing with the Sun, any more than I know why he was wearing a UBC helmet at the CFL combine. Its arguably on our conference to make ourselves noticed by the CFL and TSN when our former players are in the spotlight and we would do well to remember this going forward. However, it was no secret to anyone involved with the CFL and TSN that Simonise had played with the Sun. Why the snub.

The BCFC and CJFL usually don’t get the credit they deserve for being a high level of football. I know most coaches at the CIS level look down at us to a degree at least (when they aren’t visiting to pluck players from our rosters), but it’s worth noting that generally players who move from CIS to junior aren’t by and large dominant to the point where a disparity between CIS and BCFC is glaring. Is CIS football overall a higher calibre of football? Absolutely, saying otherwise wouldn’t make much sense. But the gap isn’t as large as the CIS would have you believe, and the difference is due in part because the average age of CIS players is higher than it is in the BCFC. The strongest clubs across the CIS are one thing but put our stronger clubs against the middle tier CIS clubs on any given year and the results would be surprising.

Rashaun Simonise himself for example…while an All Canadian in CIS with the Dinos, didn’t seem to separate himself from the crowd when he suited up in the BCFC with the Sun. I don’t know if he wasn’t focused when he was in our conference, or if he underestimated the talent here and thus didn’t stand out. In any event, his numbers in the BCFC were of the good, but not great. If nothing else, they showed that our product deserves way more attention than it gets on the national stage. This is something those of us involved in the BCFC already knew of course, but the question is how to get the media to take notice.

Okanagan Sun President Les Weiss wasn’t a happy camper last week. And while he felt his club was slighted, he also has a point when he says the CFL lost an opportunity to have 200,000 people in the Okanagan notice the CFL draft when the Okanagan Sun and the BCFC wasn’t mentioned on TSN.

Weiss and the Sun may be the most vocally concerned over last week’s events but it’s something every team in the conference should be equally frustrated about. The Sun might have been disappointed that their logo wasn’t on national TV but a football fan in Kelowna or Victoria watching the draft would also have noticed a VI Raiders logo if a player was drafted out of that program.

Lesson learned on our part for next year as no doubt there are draft eligible players who have moved from CIS to junior this year as well.

The opinions expressed in Monday Musings are not necessarily those of the BCFC or its member teams.