Badgers break summer training camp

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: August 17 2018 Strathmore Times

By Tyler Lowey, Times Reporter

New recruits to the Strathmore Community Football Association Badgers took part in the first practice of the season Aug. 13 at Crowther Memorial Junior High School Field. The first week of practice was spent on conditioning and meeting new teammates. The Badgers will get into full contact practices later this week. Tyler Lowey Photo

New recruits to the Strathmore Community Football Association Badgers took part in the first practice of the season Aug. 13 at Crowther Memorial Junior High School Field. The first week of practice was spent on conditioning and meeting new teammates. The Badgers will get into full contact practices later this week.
Tyler Lowey Photo
The 21st season of the Strathmore Community Football Association Badgers is a few weeks away and feeling closer every day now that training camp has started.
The biggest change to the organization comes at the bantam level, as Gregg Zaugg takes over as head coach for Mike Hopp.
Hopp was at the helm for one season, as the Badgers missed the playoffs.
According to the Badgers website, Hopp resigned due to “employment workload.”
The Badgers went with a familiar face in Zaugg, as he spent the past four seasons working as an assistant coach with the successful peewee programs.
“I’ve known these kids for a few years now and I know how these boys work and what they need to operate at the highest level,” said Zaugg. “Hopefully we have a great year.”
Observing last year’s bantams from afar, as Zaugg’s oldest son Brigham was a member of the winless unit, the new head coach thinks the team lost the drive in the second half of early in the year after a few tough losses. Zaugg thinks boosting their motivation will help nip that in the bud.
The bantams will welcome a large crop of players graduating from the peewee program this year. The peewees, formerly under Zaugg, captured the Central Peewee Football League (CPWFL) title two years ago and lost in the championship game last fall.
There are no major coaching changes at the senior level, but Head Coach Sean Seafoot is hoping to get an injection of players from outside the program.
With the Holy Cross Collegiate (HCC) 6 Man football team shutting its doors this season, Seafoot hopes to attract players from that program during training camp.
“It’s still early for numbers, so it’s tough to say what kind of team we will be this year. But with HCC program not running this year, hopefully a bunch of their kids don’t transfer to the high school, which would allow them to come out and play with us,” said Seafoot, who is entering his third season behind the bench of the senior unit.
Reinforcements could take the Badgers from a young, up-and-coming team, to one with experience and a shot at giving the powerful Innisfail Cyclones a run at the Mountain View Football Conference title.
“We’ve been competitive and we made the playoffs last year, but we are always looking to get better and get back into the league championship game,” said Seafoot.
Last year, the Badgers went 3-2 in the regular season, before getting bounced from the playoffs by Didsbury Dragons.
For Zaugg’s old squad, the peewees, it’s business as usual.
After being one of the top programs in the CPWFL for the past few years, Head Coach Doug Thiessen is back to work teaching the basics of football to a group of kids that are strapping on the pads for the first time.
Last year, the Badgers went 6-0 through the regular season, but were blanked 14-0 by the Stettler Panthers in a bone-chilling championship game.
All three Badger programs will go through three weeks of practicing five times a week for the rest of the month, and will move to four days a week in September when the regular season rolls around.