Rams find Moose Jaw Gold at Try-Out Camp 

By Greg Urbanoski 

The University of Regina Rams first open try-out camp exceeded expectations for both the Rams and for three players from Moose Jaw. 

The Rams open try-out camp on March 31^st attracted 24 players looking for the opportunity to gauge their ability to play university football and perhaps win an invitation from the Rams for their Spring Camp coming up at the end of April. 

“I just came to see what I could do,” said Tyson Westgard, 17, a 5’11” 182 lb receiver from Moose Jaw Peacock Tornadoes. 

“I wanted to see how I stacked up against the other guys I could be playing with or against next year and see if I could make it. I thought I did pretty good, there is always room for improvement so I’m going to keep hitting the gym and hopefully get better by next year.” 

Westgard is hoping to attend university but hasn’t made a final decision where he will be going. Westgard did some physical testing including running a 40, incline bench press, vertical jump and some on field drills, running patterns for quarterbacks. 

“I hope I was at the top but there is always room for improvement,” said Westgard. “This facility is beautiful, amazing, the gym and where the players work out, this is where I would like to play. The field is even amazing.” 

Westgard is trying out for the Senior Bowl but hasn’t been approached by any other teams. He said he plans to go with the flow and see where things go. 

Dylan Kobsar, 20, 6’ 4”, 198 lbs, is entering into his third year of studies at the University of Regina and is also a former Moose Jaw Peacock Tornado receiver. He saw the notice for the camp and was one of the first people to sign up. 

“I thought about coming and trying out and didn’t know how to do it or had the opportunity so I thought I would give it a shot,” said Kobsar. 

“I played four years of high school but since I have been playing rec and touch football. They said I did pretty good and I was surprised at the number of receivers and hopefully I can come out to Spring Camp and have a shot at the team.” 

Kobsar said his high school team was more run oriented but the touch league has helped him develop the hands needed for the receiver position. He has also been hitting the gym religiously. He said the camp was a good idea and would give players an opportunity they might not normally have. 

Liam Dow, 18, is a running back with Moose Jaw Peacock Tornadoes. The 5’7” 176 player thought it was a good evaluation to see how he ranked against other players. 

“I wanted to see how I compared, see if the coaches thought I could play CIS compared to junior and I think I played really well and I can probably play or red-shirt next year. 

“Basically I have to work on the things I need to improve on, try to get faster, stronger, bigger. I’m not sure where I’ll go, still seeing how things go and I’m not too sure what I want to do.” 

Dow said he enjoyed the facility and welcomes the opportunity to try to play for the Rams.  

Rams Head Coach Frank McCrystal was pleased with the results of the camp. 

“We’re really pleasantly surprised because all the guys came in good shape, they all worked really hard and gave their best effort and we will be asking five guys to come back,” said McCrystal. 

“We will do this again next year and considering five guys are going to be invited back, this will only grow. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we were pretty confident there were people who could play but who didn’t have the opportunity or get information communicated to them.” 

McCrystal said all 24 players did well, and those being invited back have a real shot at making the roster. He said if there wasn’t a place for them on the team, they should have a chance to make it onto another CIS team. 

“Our off-season recruiting has gone well,” said McCrystal. “We have a core group who is really coming of age and we are feeling very confident about what kind of team we have. 

“We are a little more selective with our recruiting than we have in other years in that we are becoming cyclical and recruiting players for positions that will be vacant in a year or two. We have done good things in not just recruiting but in retention and growth of our athletes and some very good numbers and improvement in strength and vertical ability. We feel we have really moved with our group of people and our program has been served well with the people we recruited in 03 and 04.”

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