In addition to its soccer, hockey, and speed and agility programs, Concordia Athletics has added basketball and flag football to its after-school roster. Held at the Loyola Campus, both are run by athletes from each varsity team and university coaches.

“The purpose is to provide youth with an opportunity for physical activity in a sport that they want to try for the first time or simply improve their skills,” said Krzysiek Kmiecik, Concordia camp director and community programming coordinator.

In flag football, the goal is to introduce technical and tactical skills, as well as to improve overall athleticism. This program allows students from grades 3 to 11 to improve not only their balance and coordination, speed, agility and decision making, but also football skills such as catching, throwing, covering, and no-contact tackling.

This program will be led by the athletes from the Concordia Stingers football team, as well as their coaches, including former CFLer and Montreal Alouettes ambassador Seydou Junior Haidara. Each group of 10 students will be paired up with one coach. The session begins Nov. 6 and runs until April 8, every Wednesday from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The cost is $245 for 20 sessions and parents can add a transportation service for an extra $165.

The basketball program allows boys and girls in grades 3 to 8 to work on their layups, ball-handling, shooting, passing, and footwork. It runs Tuesdays from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. for 10 weeks. The fall session has already started, but parents can register their kids for the next 10-week session, which will begin on January 7, for $145.

If these programs are successful, Concordia Athletics is hoping to create more of a tournament format, where the kids can apply their skills to game situations. “We do have scrimmages [during our sessions] but it is very different than being part of a team and competing.” Kmiecik says.

Parents have up to the week prior to the start of each session to register their child.

For more information, visit stingers.ca/camps.