WATCH: Pro football players sharing their love for the game

• First time hosting the clinic in Kelowna
• Helped teach kids football skills
• All about having fun and learning the sport

Raine Fenske and Easton Giesbrecht were among 100 youth excited to get hands-on instructions from some of the best in the game.

Members of the BC Lions were on hand for the Play with the Pros clinic at the Multi-Sport Centre in West Kelowna. The day brought excitement for prospective footballers eager to work with professional players.

“It’s exciting. It’s a great opportunity to get better, and have fun with my friends,” Giesbrecht said, who was eager to work on his defensive game.

For Fenske, he was looking to work on his offensive abilities.

“I think an event like this will help my speed, catches, and my throwing arm,” he said. “I want to learn how to throw farther and work on my drop-back.”

Kids were divided into different stations where they were taught skills like agility, passing, receiving, blocking, and tackling.

Tyler Gammon, Football Operations Coordinator with the BC Lions, said the event was held because some of the Lions were already doing a few school programs in the Okanagan, so they decided to host a clinic in the city.

“It’s a really cool opportunity to do it here in Kelowna, because I don’t think we’ve ever done one here before,” he said. “We usually do this event only in training camp, which is in Kamloops and Surrey, twice a year.”

He said they haven’t been able to host the event for the past two years due to the pandemic. Gammon was glad they could bring it to Kelowna, as it’s important for the team to touch all points across B.C.

The Lions who took part were Sukh Chungh, Boseko Lokombo, Ben Hladik, Nathan Rourke, and David Knevel.

Knevel, an Ontario native, is entering his fourth season with the team and said giving kids the chance to learn from high-end talent is a great way to instill the love of the game at a young age.

“As a Canadian, I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to play with the pros like this, so when I heard about it, I thought it’d be a really good opportunity to get out, see their excited faces, and just have fun,” he said.

The Lions begin their regular season on May 28 in Calgary.