SASKATOON — Here is the tale of the tape: A behind-the-scenes deep dive into Coors Light Training Camp.
“There’s a lot nobody sees,” Saskatchewan Roughriders Equipment Manager Gordon Gilroy says. “Lots of little things.”
The accumulated little things, the taping of ankles being one of thousands, add up to one giant undertaking — the staging and execution of another camp at the University of Saskatchewan.
What happens on the practice field is available to all fans, free of charge. But the on-field happenings at Griffiths Stadium are only a part of the daily routine … and most definitely not a part of this story.
Here is what happens outside of the public’s perusal:
BEFORE PRACTICE
It is 6:24 a.m. and the equipment room has been open for 24 minutes. Gilroy and his colleagues are sneaking in a quick breakfast before digging into another hectic day at the Roughriders’ temporary home for most of May — the Huskies’ clubhouse.
A few doors away, Head Athletic Therapist Greg Mayer is preparing his crew for its version of early-morning rush hour.
Essential to the process are six training-camp interns: Olivia Calamia and Rafael Ambal (York University in Toronto); Meghan Wilcox and Nat Asprilla (Mount Royal University, Calgary); Hailey Ellis (University of Regina); and Abby Ellis (Sheridan College, Brampton, Ont.).
The interns are split into groups that are led by Athletic Therapists Dallyn Shields (who herself was an intern two years ago) and Dalton Clarke.
One group is responsible for taping and field set-up. The other group handles treatment. The two groups alternate duties each day to provide variety and broaden the experience.
At 6:41 a.m., the process of equipping the field begins. Calamia wheels Gatorade containers and water jugs toward the east sideline. She, Wilcox and Abby Ellis efficiently ensure that everything is in place.
A spinal board rests against the players’ bench. An oxygen tank and defibrillator are nearby, ready in the unlikely event of an emergency.
Also conspicuous is a trunk filled with supplies — screws (which come in handy for helmet repairs), tape (much, much, much more on that very shortly), bandages, sunscreen, antacids and massage accessories.
Across the field, Assistant Equipment Manager Ty Robinson is stocking the south sideline. Equipment is required for various drills and, on this day, yardsticks are in place so the team can conduct down-and-distance drills.
The sidelines are ready long before any player or coach sets foot on the field. Once practice begins, the team will have access to pop-up bags, various accessories for tackling drills, blocking sleds … you name it.
All contingencies are considered. For example, rain showers concurrent with the Monday and Tuesday practices necessitated the deployment of a device that dries the footballs. When required, Gilroy would walk on to the field with towel-covered pigskins and do his utmost to ensure that the quarterbacks and the Assistant Equipment Manager were able to use a dry football.
Robinson moonlights as the centre when the football is not snapped by an offensive lineman. Repeatedly during each workout, Robinson will flip the football to a quarterback to begin an offensive play.
Accordingly, Robinson must have a command of all the offence’s scripts, which include the precise spot on the field from which each play is to begin. Should the ball be placed on the middle of the field or on a particular hashmark? And at what yard line? Professional football is that exacting.
Robinson is part of an equipment team that performs myriad tasks. He closely collaborates with Gilroy (who recently celebrated his 20th anniversary as the Equipment Manager) and the multi-talented Joe Baker.
A fixture at training camp, Baker is a key player on many a road trip. He is also part of the U of R Rams’ support staff. Yet, he feels right at home at the headquarters of the arch-rival Huskies.
Laverne Wanner isn’t anywhere near home. He resides in Swift Current but has nonetheless helped out at training camp for 30-plus years. His son, Jeremy, is also providing his time and talents to the team.
This year’s father-son connection extends to the Robinsons. Ty’s dad, Colin (Toledo) Robinson, is spending time with the Roughriders at camp after devoting 29 seasons to Western Hockey League teams as an Athletic Therapist.
The Roughriders’ therapy team is on full alert once the players have devoured breakfast and begun trickling into the facility.
Upon entering the clubhouse, a player can turn left (en route to the locker room) or right (toward the weight room and treatment area).
In the weight room, several players stretch and prepare their bodies as needed for the on-field portion of the day.
“You’ve got to get ready for practice,” linebacker A.J. Allen says, “because you’re not coming out here warm and ready to go.”
Training stations are set up so anyone who requires treatment — available by appointment — can be accommodated.
Mayer oversees all treatment, in close consultation with Clarke and Assistant Head Athletic Therapist Brooke Kosolofski. Available as well on this day is one group of interns — the firm of Ambal, Asprilla and Hailey Ellis.
For a while, the weight room is the busiest area, but the other group — Shields, Calamia, Wilcox and Abby Ellis — will soon have more than enough on its hands.
Tape, primarily.
At last year’s training camp, the team went through 1,500 rolls of tape. The number is not expected to change appreciably in 2025.
Four taping stations are available and essential. The first player to be taped is linebacker Braxton Hill, who greets Wilcox with a friendly “good morning” at 7:35 a.m., just 35 minutes after the first breakfast is served at a U of S cafeteria.
Before too long, all four taping tables are being used, with three players patiently awaiting their turn.
It works like an assembly line, without being impersonal in nature. Many of the sessions include pleasant, informal chats. Three-plus weeks after the first rookie-camp workout, there are plenty of familiar, friendly faces.
For some members of the Corey Mace-coached Roughriders, one layer of tape will suffice. Others prefer two layers. The occasional player is just fine, thank you, without any tape.
Some players want ankles taped. Others request ankles and wrists. The menu also includes spatting — the application of tape to cleated feet to provide extra security.
This far into camp, the taping troop is well aware of the preferences of many players. If a player has not worked with a particular tape artist, a polite request will be made.
One layer or two? Stretchy tape or thick? Tight or loose?
While the taping is being done, Gilroy and associates are ensuring that the quarterbacks’ headsets are ready, all the equipment is in order, and everything else is in place.
As 8:30 approaches, the players make the short walk to the field and conduct final pre-practice preparations. Some are stretching. Some are running. Some are doing position-specific drills.
Then Coach Mace blows the whistle … and it’s “go” time.
Inside the training area, the work does not stop. Players who have longer-term injuries take advantage of all treatment options.
AFTER PRACTICE
Mace’s final whistle, usually heard around noon-hour, signals a reversal of the pre-practice regimen.
All forms of equipment and supplies are returned to the clubhouse.
Players and coaches who have been requested for interviews tend to media obligations.
Meanwhile, several players immerse themselves in cold tubs that are situated just outside the clubhouse.
“You’ve got the cold tubs to get your body right,” Allen says. “Some guys like to get a lift in after practice. Some guys like to get some extra work in — quarterbacks, receivers, defensive backs with catching the football and things like that.
“After that, you’ve got to fuel up your body right, because you’re out here for three hours burning calories and not eating anything.
“If you don’t fuel your body, you’re going to be losing a ton of weight very quickly and that could lead to some serious health issues if you don’t take care of it.”
Hence the trek to the cafeteria. Players usually walk over in small groups. Some savvy veterans save time by using motorized scooters.
After lunch, many players take advantage of an afternoon break that runs from 1 o’clock to 3:30.
“Me, personally, I love to take a nap to try to help the body recover,” Allen says.
The recovery process can also be enhanced by additional treatment from the athletic therapists, who are available in the afternoon and pleased to help as requested.
The flexibility in the schedule abruptly ends at 3:30 p.m., when two-hour offensive and defensive meetings commence.
“The physical aspect, we get that out of the way in the morning,” Mace says. “Then it’s straight mental preparation, which we believe is just as important as the physical side.”
At each meeting, Mace (who doubles as the Defensive Co-ordinator) and his assistants delve into details, details, details.
Videos — prepared and expertly edited by the analytics team of Nick Bowley, Nathan Schellenberg and Mike Woytowich — are a primary teaching tool.
Every step taken by every player during training camp is documented on video. As a complement to the conventional cameras, a drone typically hovers over the practice field.
The eye in the sky does not lie, so it is for players — veterans and rookies alike — to make the most of each repetition.
“I feel like camp really exemplifies what it means to be a pro,” second-year Roughriders receiver Dohnte Meyers says. “You have early mornings, late nights, and you’re dedicated on the field and off the field.
“You have meetings and they are very important, so it’s not only tough physically, but mentally as well. You have to be sharp.”
Advisory: Arriving at 3:30 sharp for an afternoon meeting will not suffice. Mace subscribes to the “if you’re not five minutes early, you’re late” credo.
Nobody wants to be late for dinner — especially the assortment of 300-pound linemen — so meetings adjourn in time for players to take advantage of a one-hour supper/refuelling window that opens at 5:30 p.m.
The timetable is tight, though, because the nightly team meeting is scheduled for 6:40.
Errrr, better make that 6:35. If you’re not five minutes early …
Special teams strategy sessions, led by co-ordinator Kent Maugeri, are also held within a post-supper time slot that extends until 8 p.m.
Thereafter, the players are free for the rest of the night … sort of.
Playbook and film study are part of the informal, yet essential, agenda.
Family time is also a priority. Long-distance communications tools such as FaceTime are a lifeline for players who are housed in university dormitories and far away from their loved ones at this time of year.
“Being away from your family, that’s the hard part,” says Meyers, who is from Duluth, Ga.
By 8 p.m., work has finally wound down in the athletic therapy and equipment areas.
Gilroy and friends have done the laundry — several dozen sets of jerseys and pants must be washed each day — and tended to any helmets that require repair.
If a new player is soon to arrive, a locker-room stall must be set aside and fully equipped.
In a week such as this, there is also the need to pack for a looming road trip.
The Roughriders’ pre-season opener against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers is set for Saturday afternoon. As many as 75 players will travel to the Manitoba capital via WestJet charter on Friday and return to Saskatoon the following evening. (The team will then move to Regina for the final week of camp.)
The equipment also ascends to 38,000 feet when the Roughriders play in Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa or Montreal. When a game is slated for Calgary, Edmonton or, in this case, Winnipeg, the equipment is transported in a giant trailer. The driver: Mr. Baker, Joe-of-all-trades.
While the players finish their video/playbook study or simply unwind, the coaches conduct a one-hour staff meeting that begins at 8 p.m. That is the final event on the agenda, each day, throughout camp.
It sounds gruelling for all concerned, but there is nary a word of complaint or objection.
“It’s football from the time you wake up until you go to bed,” quarterback Trevor Harris says with a smile. “What’s better than that?
“Over the course of the day, you’re either getting ready for practice, practising, being in meetings or working on your body a little bit.
“I read my Bible in the morning and at night, so I get to talk to Jesus a little bit and play football all day. It’s right in my wheelhouse.”
A CFLer since 2012, Harris stresses the importance of another key ingredient: Rest.
Allen, a fourth-year Roughrider, is quick to concur. On most nights, he is asleep not long after his head hits the pillow, with the alarm going off (again) at 6 a.m.
“There are more things that are required of us, asked of us, in training camp,” Allen says, “but this is the best job in the world.
“What a privilege it is to be out here in Rider Nation in Saskatoon right now and playing for this province.
“It is a grind, but it’s a fun grind.”
