Do people in Bonnyville not care about sports?
That was my reaction on Monday morning after hearing that the Lakeland Rustlers basketball camp had been cancelled.
It's the second camp that has failed to materialize this summer after the University of Calgary Dinos football camp met the same fate a few weeks earlier.
The thing that disappoints me the most is that the head coach of the Rustlers Mens team, Peter Sambu, seemed like he was genuinely excited about coming to Bonnyville and teaching the youth in this community how to excel in the sport of basketball. And I'm sure he would have been able to teach quite a bit as just before the camp he was off to the University of West Virginia to learn from one of the best minds in college basketball, Bob Huggins.
It baffles me as to why people seem to have little to no interest in some of these camps offered at the Centennial Centre. They're definitely not outrageously expensive. The Rustlers camp was $199 for four days and included a basketball jersey.
As a kid, I would have loved to have the chance to attend one of these camps. For a town the size of Bonnyville to attract notable post-secondary sports clubs to teach classes in an intimate setting is a true coup and I'm truly surprised that people aren't taking advantage of these opportunities.
I realize that the summer is the one time of the year when people in this region can enjoy the great outdoors but I find it hard to believe that a basketball camp, hosted by an acclaimed coach, can only attract the interest of two or three people in Bonnyville.
And for those of you who don't really care about the issue either way, think about me. Just think of all the incredible photo opportunities and potential story ideas that the Nouvelle sports section is missing without all of these events taking place. It's certainly a lot more fun taking pictures of people having fun at a camp or writing stories on people's camp experiences as opposed to stories every week about camps being cancelled due to lack of interest.
So if the Albrecht Lacrosse camp or the volleyball camp get cancelled, don't only think of all the disappointed participants but also think of the staff at the Nouvelle. And especially of a sheepish reporter trying to explain to an angry editor why there are no photos in the sports section for the week.
Because there's only so many camp cancellation stories one reporter can put together.
