Minnesota Vikings team up with Calgary sports to bring free football and dance camp

Minnesota Vikings team up with RAW Sports to bring free football and cheerleading camp to Calgary. Tommy Osborne reports

Shouldice Athletic Park echoed with the Minnesota Vikings’ signature “skol” chant Saturday as a free cheerleading and dance clinic and youth football skills camp was held for everyone between the age of four and 14 years old.

The event was a collaboration between the Vikings, Calgary Stampeders, and RAW Sports, who all came together to inspire the next generation of athletes with coaching from those who know what it takes to compete among the very best.

Among the people helping run the camp was special guest Larry Dean, former NFL player with the Vikings and multi-time CFL all-star.

“It means everything just to be given the opportunity to be in front of the youth and then also just to pay it back. Someone paid it back to me, so just to be able to pour into the youth just as I was poured into, it’s everything,” Dean said.

RAW Sports co-founder Robert Woodson said the event was fun and accessible for everyone in Calgary.

“It’s an incredible opportunity, and this is the first time the Vikings are running a camp in Calgary. I think the best part is that it’s free, so it’s great. It’s inclusive for any kids who want to come and have some fun and play football,” Woodson said.

A Vikings spokesperson said the event offered an opportunity to grow the sport in Calgary -- and Canada.

“You don’t accomplish anything by yourself, so it’s great to have RAW Sports here locally in Calgary help us out, connect us with quality coaching, kids that want to attend these clinics and hone their skills and get better and learn the game,” added Joe Rush, the Vikings’ youth and high school football director.

“It’s really just a powerful way to grow the game in Canada, especially as we’re looking forward to the Olympic Games in 2028, it will host its debut men’s and women’s flag football for the very first time,” Rush added.

‘There’s purple everywhere’

One huge Vikings fan attending the camp said it was incredibly cool to see a former pro like Dean help participants hone their skills -- adding that he also dreams of being a Viking one day.

“It’s very fun, it’s actually very exciting. Just seeing all this is very fun. There’s purple everywhere, which means everyone here is a Vikings fan,” he said.

Dean himself noticed the passion of not just that one individual fan, but the contagious energy of all the camp attendees, adding that being able to share in the joy of sport with young athletes makes all the effort of traveling to new communities to host camps worth it.

“It keeps you youthful, man, to have that energy level. I remember those days, and I’m still a kid at heart with this game,” Dean said.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with the support, the existing fandom, the excitement to be out here and learn the game from some really quality coaches and Vikings professionals. The warm welcome here in Calgary has definitely made a difference,” Rush added.

Dancing

On the dancing side, the Stampeders Outriders and Vikings cheerleaders teamed up to teach the signature cheers of both teams.

Around 150 dancers took part, with many saying they were blown away by the quality of instruction, as well as how friendly both the Vikings’ and Stampeders’ dancers were.

“It felt very cool, I was very thankful that I got to meet them. They were very nice and very kind, very sweet to everyone here,” one dance camp attendee said.

For those running the dance camp, they said it was an incredible opportunity to share in the joy of dancing, adding the camp hopes to teach a lot more than just the dances and cheers itself.

“Some of the things that we promote in these clinics are confidence, hard work, leadership, teamwork, those are the things that I learned as a dancer, those are the values that we infuse into our clinics, which is one of the things that our cheerleaders and the Outriders dancers are bringing to these athletes today,” said Vikings cheerleaders head coach Jaycie Scott.

“Dance has been a huge part of my story, and it’s really special for myself and for our cheerleaders to be able to share that passion, because they all have been impacted by this sport in such a meaningful way,” she added.

The Vikings have global marketing rights under the NFL’s global markets program for Canada, which is why they made the visit to Calgary. The Vikings’ vice president of brand marketing and fan engagement Nick Lopezzo says because it’s the first time the team came to Calgary, they wanted to make sure it was a memorable event.

“We want to show up in as many ways as possible, and there are so many different ways that fans can engage with a football franchise. Whether you’re a fan of the game, whether you love cheerleading, whether you like the spectacle of game day, we want to connect with fans in as many ways as possible,” Lopezzo said.

Lopezzo added the Vikings also were set up at the Calgary Stampede, and the team had such a great time in Calgary that it “absolutely” expects to be back for future programs like the one held today.