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Rifles & Broncos Open Spring Camp

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters), 05/11/17, 2:15PM PDT

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A pair of CJFL teams will hit the field this weekend

CJFL teams continue to open their Spring Camp this coming weekend as the Winnipeg Rifles and Kamloops Broncos hit the field.

In Winnipeg the Rifles opened up on Wednesday night with players meetings.  Then Thursday the rookies will take centre stage before everyone suits up beginning Thursday night.

Geordie Wilson enters his second full season as the Rifles head coach and is expecting 135 players to attend.    He says he’ll be evaluating the talent of his new crop of players along with the character of both rookies and veterans.

The Rifles will also use Spring Camp to begin installation of a new offence and teach players about accountability.

Part of the evaluation process will be to see how their offensive line performs “when the lights come one.”

This camp will be entirely up to the Rifles coaching staff as there are not any alumni scheduled to attend as guest coaches.

Over in the BC Conference the Broncos will open Spring Camp as well.  Friday afternoon players will begin to check in and will first hit the turf at Hillside Stadium at 8:00pm.

An emphasis in two areas will no doubt be on the mind of head coach Brad Yamaoka.   The Broncos defence gave up 34.9 points a game last season, second most in the Conference.  Coach Yamaoka and his staff will make this a priority as well as the run game on the offence.  After the graduation of Jacob Palmarin following last season, who will carry the rock in 2017?

The Broncos will also evaluate the development of second year quarterback Colby Henkel after winning the CJFL’s Rookie of the Year honours last season.  Henkel and his receivers will need to play a big role this upcoming season.