Eleven years and still going strong.

Kelly Bates is set to take over Muenster once again, as he holds his annual football camp out at St. Peter's College.

The camp began when Bates was in the midst of a nine-year career in the Canadian Football League, where he spent his first seven seasons with the BC Lions, before moving on to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Edmonton Eskimos.

Now, the Humboldt native is Head Coach of Canada's only NCAA Football team, the Simon Fraser Clan.

He says the camp began thanks to a connection to his old high school at HCI.

"I like to call it a meeting of the minds, although I don't know if there were any minds there," he joked. "The head coach at the time, Shaun Gardiner, came to me and asked me if this was something I would be interested in."

"About two years previous to that, it was something I mulled over in my mind, but really didn't know if I had the know how to do something like that. It really came down to in my head, the reason it came to fruition was that, growing up, I had never really been to a football camp, and I thought what better way to bring that experience to kids in Humboldt."

Bates added that although he had coaching in his mind following his career in the CFL, the camp has paved the way for so much more.

"I owe a debt of gratitude to Shaun in helping this camp come together, because it was a great opportunity for me to learn and grow as an administrator outside of the coaching aspect of football," he said. "Its really prepared me for a great deal of things in what I do now today."

After retiring from the league, Bates joined Wally Buono's coaching staff with the Lions, serving as their running backs coach and draft coordinator through the 2014 season.

Last year, he was hired as the sideline boss in Simon Fraser, where recruiting and other administrative aspects are relied on heavily.

Through the Clan, Bates is joined by his offensive coordinator, former CFL Head Coach, Joe Paopao each year as one of the marquee coaches at the camp.

This year, the full staff also includes Patrick Neufeld of the Blue Bombers, Ottawa Redblacks defensive lineman Keith Shologan, Keenan MacDougall of the Riders, former CFL players Scott McHenry and Warren Muzika, alumni of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, Kit Hillis, Huskies current running backs coach, Dan Houle, Sheldon Ball of the Saskatoon Hilltops, as well as Kyle Stroeder, Tyler Baier, and Terry Braman, each of whom have experience with provincial teams and are current high school coaches.

Bringing in coaches with years of experience at the top levels allows the camp to be a glimpse into the future for the players attending, according to Bates.

"We try to introduce the kids to what they will go through at the next level in terms of going to camps at college - it's really based around what a professional camp would be like over a two day period of time," he explained.

"We start in the classroom, we insert football jargon on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, and then we get on the field and progress through individual drill instruction and work to a point where we can now come off the field and watch ourselves on film and study what we've done and then go back out there and apply it."

The format has shown its work too, as MacDougall actually attended the Bates camp as a player before being drafted by the Calgary Stampeders in 2012. 

"It's a very intense weekend, and one where the kids who come year after year, after they leave and you hear from them down the road, they say this was a great opportunity to learn what they're in store for."

New this year is a full game experience to conclude the camp, as the scrimmage, which will begin shortly after 1pm on Sunday, will include referees, and serve as a game-like atmosphere.

You can hear Bates' full interview below.