
Neil Rathod is a cheerful teenager with big plans.
At 14, he talks excitedly and ambitiously about his start-up business — one that involves finding solutions to real-life problems.
He is also starting down a road that will ultimately lead him toward a position on the Campbell Tartans high school football team.
For now, though, the emphasis is on mastering the basics of a sport that is relatively new to Rathod, who moved to Canada from India 3½ years ago.
He was among 40 young new Canadians who took part in the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation’s second annual Grow the Game football camp at Mosaic Stadium on Monday.
“I’m learning so much,” Rathod, who will soon enter Grade 10 at Campbell Collegiate, said with a smile.
“I’m trying new skills and improving my techniques.”
Monday’s event was made possible due to the Foundation’s close collaboration with Football Saskatchewan and the Regina Open Door Society (RODS).
Expert tutelage was provided by two Roughriders players — centre Peter Godber and linebacker C.J. Reavis — and three members of the University of Regina Rams.
Rams quarterback Noah Pelletier is the program co-ordinator for Grow the Game. In that capacity, he works with the Roughrider Foundation, Football Saskatchewan and emerging athletes such as Rathod.
“A lot of these kids have never heard of the game, seen the game or played the game, but they do come from sports backgrounds so they tend to pick it up pretty fast,” Pelletier said.
“I’ve definitely been super impressed with how they’ve been able to play. When I join in on the game, sometimes they’re giving me a hard time as far as keeping up with them, so it definitely is really impressive.”
Pelletier was joined at the camp by Rams teammates Rylan Sokul (a receiver) and Dolani Robinson (defensive back).
They helped to lead the camp participants through a variety of drills, along with Godber and Reavis.
“That ball is coming in crazy!” an impressed Reavis said to one camper after catching a pass that arrived with some serious spin.
One of the youngsters recognized the community-minded Godber from a school appearance he had made on behalf of the Foundation.
Monday’s session was part of a five-day RODS sport camp. A similar initiative was held in Saskatoon, where a Grow the Game camp was held on Friday.
“I think (the kids) are really active and very engaged,” RODS youth case worker Nadine Mounir said. “They want to learn more. They’ve been asking so many questions.
“They are really focused with the players, they’re really on it, and they’ve having fun.”
The players emanated from a far-away countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia Ukraine and Vietnam.
Most of the participants have lived in Canada for three months to two years.
“As part of Regina Open Door, we try to integrate them into the community and into the new culture that they are being exposed to,” Mounir noted.
“Our youth come from diverse backgrounds, so we try to construct as many programs and as many workshops as we can to help them get connected to the community, integrate more into the Canadian culture, and to find new connections with their peers and with the Society.
“We also try to focus on their overall well-being — their social well-being and their psychological well-being — and getting integrated into the culture helps a lot.”
Consider the example of Rathod, who noted that he added “10 buddies” in short order simply by attending the camp.
“We’re just seeing how happy the kids are to come out here,” Pelletier said.
“They’ll all come over and say ‘thank you’ and they’ll all ask for our signatures. Little things like that really stand out.
“They’re telling us that they’ll be coming to our games and that they’re interested in continuing to play football.
“That has been great, but seeing the kids and the feedback that I’ve received from the other instructions has probably been the highlight for me.”
Now the objective is to carry the momentum far beyond Monday.
“I’m super grateful to have this opportunity and to work with these kids, who you normally wouldn’t see in the game of football,” Pelletier said.
“I hope to see them stick with the game. I hope to continue to be able to have these camps and hopefully get numbers up more and more.
“Hopefully we see a spike in these newcomers to Canada playing the game of football.”