It’s ready, set, Kamloops for the BC Lions.

The CFL club will move forward with training camp in the Tournament Capital next month after a unanimous vote by the CFL’s Board of Governors to move forward on a season with an August 5 start date.

“It feels really good to get the official word,” BC Lions Head Coach and co-General Manager, Rick Campbell, told NL Sports.

“We’ve been prepping and making sure we’re ready to go in the event we got the green light and now that we do have the green light, we’re excited to be in Kamloops in a few weeks.”

Campbell was hired in December 2019 but he hasn’t coached a practice with the Lions after the pandemic wiped out the 2020 CFL season.

The Lions will have their American players come into Kamloops on July 3 – a week before training camp begins on July 10.

“We’ll do a quarantine week and then we’ll kind of be in the bubble type scenario where we’re not interacting with anyone and making sure we’re all healthy and safe and doing those things,” Campbell said. “We’ll make sure we follow all of those rules.”

“It’s been a little cool and rainy here in Vancouver the past few weeks… I think a little sun [in Kamloops] is going to feel good.”

The Lions are playing out the final year of their contract with the City of Kamloops to host training camp at the Tournament Capital Centre and Hillside Stadium. The deal was due to expire last year but it was extended by one year because of the pandemic.

Kamloops has been home to the Lions training camp since 2010 and both parties have indicated a willingness to extend the agreement further. This year, the Lions are scheduled to be in Kamloops until July 31.

This year’s CFL season will be a 14 game schedule played over 16 weeks. The CFL will announce the schedule tomorrow.

“This is an exciting day for Canadian football and for Canada itself,” CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said, in a statement.

“I want to thank our fans, players, coaches and partners for their incredible support and patience as we’ve worked together.”

For more details on the BC Lions training camp, go here.

“It’s been a long time, and you’re going to see an excited group show up to #Kamloops. All the coaches and players are totally excited to get back to football. See you there in a few weeks.” – @BCLions Head Coach / Co-GM Rick Campbell @RadioNLNews pic.twitter.com/StVnFQRqIt

— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) June 14, 2021