Football season almost underway

Shannon LeClair

Times Reporter

 

All three of Strathmore’s football teams have been busy practicing five nights a week to prepare for this years season, which starts next week for some. 

While all are excited to battle on the gridiron, the peewee team is likely looking forward to their first game the most. The team will be facing Innisfail at McMahon Stadium in Calgary on Sept. 10.

“It’s all they can talk about. I’m having a hard time getting the focus on playing football, rather than just playing football at McMahon Stadium,” said coach Doug Klauck. 

“We’re playing Innisfail and they initiated it. They looked it into it, and we’re able to rent the field for the day, for the three hours, and we’re splitting the cost on it. Just something a little different, something special for the kids.”

Klauck said when he coached the Atom division in Calgary, every Atom team had a chance to play at McMahon. He said for this team to be able to play there as peewee is special for the kids. 

While it can be hard to believe for those who have been to McMahon and seen the field, it is a regulation-sized field, something Klauck said they are trying to get across to the parents. 

“It just looks so much bigger.  I was there on Saturday, and it still looks so much bigger,” said Klauck. 

This is the third year Strathmore has had a peewee team. Last year it was a tentative start for the team, who by the beginning of November were not quite where they wanted to be in the standings. 

The team came out on top, pulling off two playoff wins by the end of the season. This year Klauck is hoping they will do the same, but with only five returning players, he said, only time will tell. 

“We’ve got a rookie team, and it’s going to take us a few weeks to get going but, I think once we get a game under our belt it’ll be okay,” said Klauck. 

If the team makes it to the provincial finals they will be able to play on their home turf, which is a goal Klauck said they have set for themselves this season.