http://www.bluebombers.com/article/bombers-open-training-camp-may-31

 

WINNIPEG, MB., May 19, 2015 –The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are set to open their 2015 training camp on Sunday, May 31^st, on the field beside the Winnipeg Indoor Soccer Complex. Please note, all of the team’s rookie/training camp practices and media availabilities will be held at this location.  The Blue Bombers will play two pre-season games:  June 9^th in Toronto, and June 19^that Investors Group Field against Hamilton.

Quarterbacks and CFL newcomers will report to Winnipeg and will be on the field for the opening of rookie camp on Wednesday, May 27^th. Veterans report on May 30^st and will begin practicing on May 31^st.

A weekly practice/media schedule for training camp, including practice and media availability/filming times will be distributed beginning the week of May 25. If media have any specific questions pertaining to a certain date during training camp, please check with the Blue Bombers Communications Department for tentative details of that day.

Throughout training camp, media availability with players will take place immediately following practice, on the field. Head coach Mike O’Shea will be made available to the media approximately 20 minutes after practice.

 

I don't claim to actually know the answer to this question but how expensive could it really be to put up temporary bleachers to seat a couple hundred people for training camp? If you need to recoup the money, set up a hot dog cart.

 

It's tradition that we get to observe training camp and it's going to really bum me out if we have to rely on the media for our TC report fix, because the content quite frankly is nowhere near as good as what we get from the fan community.

 

I like to know why they can't use the old Bisons stadium just the other side of Ken Ploen Way.

 

There is plenty of room at that field for a couple of hundred fans.  It's been used for high school games, and was the host site for the Red River Cup (u-16) tournament a couple of years ago.  They brought in a mobile trailer that converted into some bleachers.  It's an artificial turf field, and it a very good surface (so not a "pasture").   For the hardcore fan, it's not a bad venue.

It's not as if the Bombers knew about this soccer tournament in advance, so how could they have been proactive and planned for it until now?

 

This is absolutely my biggest issue...you knew about this for a LONG TIME!!! You're telling me you couldn't have had a plan in place? As has been stated, thousands show up every year for TC, so they know what the demand is...

People need to remember that the Club needs to rent the facility to every dog and pony show out there to suck every nickel possible to try and keep up with the interest owing.

People need to remember that the Club needs to rent the facility to every dog and pony show out there to suck every nickel possible to try and keep up with the interest owing.

I get that. If you can jam the barn full of people wanting to watch women's soccer, and that helps pay off the debt, great. But PLAN for the fact that fans want to attend your training camp. It's really not that difficult to for see and plan for things like these, and yet the Bombers keep stepping on their dicks at every turn. I don't get it.

 

I don't claim to actually know the answer to this question but how expensive could it really be to put up temporary bleachers to seat a couple hundred people for training camp? If you need to recoup the money, set up a hot dog cart.

 

It's tradition that we get to observe training camp and it's going to really bum me out if we have to rely on the media for our TC report fix, because the content quite frankly is nowhere near as good as what we get from the fan community.

 

I like to know why they can't use the old Bisons stadium just the other side of Ken Ploen Way.

 

That was always a "less than desirable" field.  Poorly kept natural grass full of ruts and sprinkler heads, rubber track surface in the endzones, and worn out wooden bleachers that are a long way from the field.   The surface on the proposed site is a big upgrade.

There is plenty of room at that field for a couple of hundred fans.  It's been used for high school games, and was the host site for the Red River Cup (u-16) tournament a couple of years ago.  They brought in a mobile trailer that converted into some bleachers.  It's an artificial turf field, and it a very good surface (so not a "pasture").   For the hardcore fan, it's not a bad venue.

So it's been used for high school games and an under 16 tournament.  I can totally see why a professional football TC is almost the same thing. 

 

 

There is plenty of room at that field for a couple of hundred fans.  It's been used for high school games, and was the host site for the Red River Cup (u-16) tournament a couple of years ago.  They brought in a mobile trailer that converted into some bleachers.  It's an artificial turf field, and it a very good surface (so not a "pasture").   For the hardcore fan, it's not a bad venue.

It's not as if the Bombers knew about this soccer tournament in advance, so how could they have been proactive and planned for it until now?

 

This is absolutely my biggest issue...you knew about this for a LONG TIME!!! You're telling me you couldn't have had a plan in place? As has been stated, thousands show up every year for TC, so they know what the demand is...

 

I agree, but really all they need to do is put in a couple of temporary bleachers and a handful of porta-potties and they are good to go.  I'm confident that this will be taken care of.   Oh, and invite a couple of food trucks or hotdog vendors to the party.

Sadly potential poor planning here. This is a recurring theme of an organization that has become reactive instead of proactive.

I understand why they can't use the stadium, but that really, really sucks. It's basically a tradition for my family to head out and catch a few training camp practices while enjoying the weather. I've been inside the soccer complex and the field beside it. It's nice but this is going to change the experience for fans a lot. Hopefully they get decent seating somewhere for us.

Cue the Bombers PR department to tell us how...

 

a) The proposed plan is a great one

If you just relax and accept it it will go much easier

c) We really respect you

Its one year. Back to the regular scheduled programing next year. Not the end of the world.

Its one year. Back to the regular scheduled programing next year. Not the end of the world

 

We say that a lot around these parts.

At least Bomber have their training camp in the same city as they play.

I'll be attending training camp this year, but because of this disappointing news I won't be booking a full week off work like I normally do.

bombers do not control the two fields west of the indoor soccer stadium, the u of m does, so who knows what they can and can not do, i think most of us knew this was going to happen when the world cup soccer was coming to wpg, not the best situation, hey at least they have a great field to practice on

Its one year. Back to the regular scheduled programing next year. Not the end of the world.

Ya know, at this point, I've heard the same thing over and over again from the Bombers. They're doing everything they can to chase away young fans. With the Jets back in town, the Bombers should be bending over backwards to please people, instead they're the ones asking the fans to bend over. It's one issue after another, it's unprofessional, and it kills the team's credibility.

so what would u do, build yr own practice field or put turf down at the old pan am stadium, it is only for 22 or 23 days, bombers try their best, but do not have a wallet the size of the jets

I get that the stadium is a no go, but for me, the fact that they clearly put ZERO thought into what they could do for the fans and that, initially at least, thought that simply closing the practices to the public was the best option tells me that Wade better have a long hard talk with the tall foreheads that are in charge of this sort of stuff, because really, it is nothing less than a huge middle finger to their hard core fans.  

 

"It's only for a year" is just garbage.  Have a plan that respects the people that pay the freight.  How hard is that?  

Why don't we just wait and see what the Bombers have in store for this upcoming TC before we, once again, go ape-****-down-on-the-Bombers.

It's not like we've haven't seen something like this happen, where the fans react, and it's totally out of portion to the situation at hand. Put the matches back in the drawer.

It's TC; its really for the team and not the fans anyways; it's a privledge to get to see TC

It's TC; its really for the team and not the fans anyways; it's a privledge to get to see TC

 

Yeah you're right we should be thanking the Bombers for granting us such an incredible privilege every year.

 

Or maybe they should be thanking the fans for giving a **** about them, unlike the fans of 3 quarters of the teams in the league.

1. It sucks to be kicked out for the Woman's World Cup. Let's be honest, how many people really care?

2. The initial memo from the Bombers about closed practices was stupid. Need to sell the club better.

Holy Crap, did some of you people graduate from the Paul Friesen school of overreaction? 

1. It sucks to be kicked out for the Woman's World Cup. Let's be honest, how many people really care?

2. The initial memo from the Bombers about closed practices was stupid. Need to sell the club better.

How does a tweet like that go out and then get deleted 5 minutes later?  Does no one talk to each other within the Bombers organization? 

Holy Crap, did some of you people graduate from the Paul Friesen school of overreaction? 

Bombers trying to close TC to the fans is a pretty big deal.  It'd be a nightmare having to rely on Jim Toth's tweet's for TC updates.