Boogaard Fight Camp Still Debated

The Boogaards fight camp, which made news a month ago when it was announced they were going to teach kids how to fight on skates, is still getting ink.

CTV adds to the chatter about the camp with an article accompanied by a few videos.

It has the normal “it’s defensive” vs “it’s thuggery” quotes, plus a little something from the Great One:

“If they’re there teaching kids at the ages of 12, 13, 14 to defend themselves, that’s fine,” said Wayne Gretzky. “I took boxing classes when I was 10. It didn’t pay off for me.”

Sarah Schorno of The Huffington Post chimes in with a positive outlook:

The purpose of the camp is to teach the attendees, who range in age from 12 to 18, to learn how to effectively handle the inevitable on-ice fight. If the camp stays true to its cause, which is self defense, then it’s not entirely a bad idea.

Even on this site, where fighting is clearly not frowned upon, there was debate on whether or not the Boogaards should be teaching kids the ins and outs of on-ice fisticuffs.  One thing that is clear is that the controversy surrounding it generated enough publicity for them to easily fill-up next year’s camp.