UWindsor Football Camp to Tackle Mental Health, NIL, and On-Field Training

A football camp is coming to Windsor, held by an NFL’er and a former scholarship athlete. CTV Windsor’s Bob Bellacicco has the details.

A brand-new football camp is making its debut this weekend at the University of Windsor. Organized by Dom Johnson, the camp promises to give young players a taste of the American game.

“High impact football training,” Johnson explained as young athletes from Ontario and the U.S. ascend on the University of Windsor Saturday and Sunday.

He said current and retired CFL and NFL pros are coming to town for the camp including his brother Theo, who plays for the New York Giants and Kayode Awosika of the Detroit Lions.

Former NFL’ers like Tyrone Crawford and Dakoda Shepley and many more will also be on hand to pass on their knowledge.

Players will learn some valuable football skills, but they’ll also be taught some important life lessons, like how to deal with mental health, transitioning through different levels of their football career, financial literacy, and the importance of NIL (Name, Image and Likeness).

“We want to create a really good football experience that teaches them high level impact drills but also talk about some of these important issues and learn how we can solve them and deal with them,” Johnson told CTV News.

He said the camp will break for lunch on Saturday and record four 15-minute podcasts.

“Our first speaker is going to be Dr. Pat Smith,” Johnson said.

“We’re going to talk about mental health. I struggled with mental health in college and Dr. Smith was actually somebody that I went to when I was struggling.”

In June 2021, the NCAA allowed student-athletes to make money from their personal brand. Nick O’Shae will discuss NIL and explain how up to 90 per cent of marketing deals center around social media.

“Create a brand if you like playing video games, start streaming,” said O’Shae.

“If you like working out and start making fitness content it can be anything but start creating a brand around content that you enjoy making.”

Sandwich grad Ella Steel-Douglas just completed a decorated high school track and field career and is heading to Costal Carolina on a full-ride scholarship. The 18-year-old said she is aware of the financial rewards of NIL.

“My approach is to honestly get my social media cleaned up,” Steel-Douglas explained.

“I feel like that’s the main focus for what I can do for NIL money. I try to keep a clean image for myself and hoping that companies can seek me through that and I’ll start posting regularly for it.”

Johnson would like to make this camp a yearly experience and expand to include other sports. He would also like to bring it to different communities.

“There’s more pressure on the athletes than there’s ever been before to balance school, to balance sports so bringing in professional speakers talking about this and teaching what you can do so that the athletes can be successful at the next level. We want to make an impact,” he said.