Receiver still remembered for
time with Rams
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| Mitchell Picton gives a play call to a group of players. |
Since 2022, Picton has made way up to Saskatoon from Regina to be a guest coach for Saskatoon Minor Football’s Playground To Pros camp. The Playground To Pros camp is the annual Easter time camp that helps with developing skills and fundamentals in players at the grassroots level.
Picton was back at this year’s camp that ran April 22 to 24 at the Indoor Training Centre on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds. While he has been a member of the Roughriders since 2017, Picton is amazed about how many locals remember he played five seasons for the University of Regina Rams from 2013 to 2017.
After the Rams were eliminated from the Canada West playoffs
on November 4, 2017, Picton signed with the Roughriders on November 15, 2017
and has been with the CFL franchise continually from that time. Picton, who
will turn 30-years-old on May 29, still gets into friendly jab sessions
regarding the Rams rivalry in U Sports with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies every
time he visits Saskatoon.
“It is definitely still alive,” said Picton, who stands
6-foot-1 and weighs 197 pounds. “I always make sure to pack a little bit of
Rams gear when I come up to Saskatoon.
“I’m certainly still a Rams fan. I still have a little bit
of distaste for the Huskies. They’ve got a few decent guys over there that I’ve
become friends with over the years.”
Picton is part of a sizable group of CFL players who help with the Playground To Pros camp including Huskies alums in Riley Pickett and Nathan Cherry, who both play for the British Columbia Lions, and Josh Hagerty, who suits up for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Pickett, who also an alum of the CJFL’s storied Saskatoon Hilltops, is the Lions long snapper and fullback, and Cherry toils on the defensive line. Hagerty is a defensive back with the Blue Bombers.
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| Mitchell Picton sizes up a play call during a scrimmage. |
“It is always fun,” said Picton. “Being from Saskatchewan, a
kid that grew up playing Regina minor football and that sort of thing and came
through the Team Sask ranks, it is always good to come out and give back,
because that little kid was me a bunch of years back.
“It always feels good to come out and be involved in the
minor football community.”
The players
who take part in the Playground To Pros camp get to try every position in the
game of football. Picton said he tries to pass on simple lessons to the players
he works with.
“You try to teach them the basics,” said Picton. “You see
each kid for a very short amount of time.
“You try and give them one or two things to maybe work on
and help their craft a little bit. You are not going to change them overnight
or develop a player overnight. You try and give them the tools to take back to
their teams for their football season to work on that is going to help their
game progress.”
Growing up
in Regina, Picton said he didn’t remember going to a camp that was exactly
similar to Playground To Pros, but he did attend some development camps. He
believes the Playground To Pros camps allows players to get a taste of every
part of the game. Picton added he took part in a variety of sports growing up
in Regina, and it is good to enjoy numerous sports.
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| Mitchell Picton, centre, hands a football to a player. |
“Football season started for me when RMF (Regina Minor Football) started. I was
playing hockey through the winter. Then into the spring, I played lacrosse.
“In the fall, it was time to play football. I was kind of
playing different sports at different times. I’d pick up my football helmet
again when football season rolled around.”
Picton also enjoys being on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds. He likes working out at Ignite Athletics and thinks the Indoor Training Centre is a perfect spot to hold minor football camps in.
“Ignite (Athletics) is great for us,” said Picton. “They treat us extremely well, so we always like coming up there and getting some work in.
“Just the facility, the turf and everything that they
have here is kind of in one spot. It makes it easy for us to train and coach
the kids and do all that kind of just under one roof. It makes it pretty good.”
He adds he is always impressed with how many of the guest coaches from the CFL ranks are Saskatchewan products.
“I think it speaks to the talent that we have in
Saskatchewan,” said Picton. “There are a lot of guys playing football
professionally now that are from Saskatchewan or played at the U of R or U of S
and that sort of thing.
“It is great to get up here with them a little bit. We’ve
trained together. It is always good to see guys like that and get a little work
in.”
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| Mitchell Picton gives feedback to a group of players. |
He talks frequently about those encounters with Saskatoon product and Roughriders long snapper Jorgen Hus, who is an alum of the Rams and the Hilltops.
“For us, we almost not downplay it, but it has become pretty normalized for us,” said Picton. “That is our occupation.
“That is what we do is we play football. We try to not make
it as big a deal between us. Then, it is cool when you see the kids, and
they’re super excited.
“Then, you kind of do have that different perspective of
what we do is important in the community, and people care a lot about it.”
Following
the conclusion of the Playground To Pros camp, Picton returned home to Regina
for a short stay before returning to Saskatoon. Roughriders rookie camp ran
from May 7 to 9 at Griffiths Stadium. Main camp was set to begin on May 11 at
Griffiths with the team returning to Regina on May 25.
Picton is
looking forward to the upcoming CFL campaign.
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| Mitchell Picton shares a laugh with some fans on May 18, 2024. |
“You are not quite as excited for three weeks of living in
dorms in Saskatoon, but that is all part of training camp and what we go
through in our jobs. I am excited to get the season going and get up here and
get to work.”
For more information on the various programs offered by Saskatoon Minor Football, feel free to check out their website at saskatoonminorfootball.com.
