The Bonnyville Voyageurs are getting ready to hit the field running.
Over the last few weeks, the football team has been taking full advantage of their four-week spring league. At the end of the month, they will be travelling to Edmonton to take part in an annual jamboree, but for now, they are focusing on basic skills.
The team has had an unusually high number of players sign up for the spring league this year, said head coach Larry Godziuk.
“We've got 40 kids registered for spring football, which is 10 more than normal,” he noted. “Since we've had the younger (bantam) program start, we've just seen more and more kids coming up through that program. They graduated 24 kids last year.”
Out of the 24 graduating bantam players, about a dozen came to the Voyageurs. Now, their goal is to prepare them for playing against stronger, bigger, and older teams.
Godziuk said, “We're just trying to bring them up to speed in terms of what to expect.”
On Friday, May 26, the Voyageurs will be heading to Edmonton for the jamboree. While there, they will play a modified game of football with no kicking or special teams.
Each team gets 10 chances to score as many times as possible. Godziuk said they each have 25 chances playing defence and 25 chances playing offence.
“During that time, they allow the coaches to be on the field so we can coach the kids… it gives them an opportunity for it to be a learning situation.”
It also gives coaches a chance to see where players fit, and how they perform in certain roles.
This season in particular, the Voyageurs are looking at filling a few linebacker and receiver spots before the fall.
“We're trying to put players in a position where they will be successful and where they will be the most successful in terms of contributing to the team,” noted Godziuk. “Like most sports, you go into anything with a game plan. We have some goals and objectives for the spring, and we want to see how some of our newer players fit in.”
Coaches film the day of the jamboree and review the footage before assigning a player to a role.
“Everyone stands out in their own way,” Godziuk said, adding one thing he's noticed over the years is the skill of the incoming players has improved.
“They're starting to come to us with more skill. They're going to more camps, and some of these kids are now in their seventh year of football. They're coming to us with more experience and it shows when we are practicing. It means we don't have to do so much teaching right from the start.”
Their goal for the season is to once again make it to the finals, and hopefully beat their toughest competitors out of Lloydminster along the way.
“Hopefully we put in enough time, effort, and improvements to get us there,” Godziuk said.
The team's first game of the official season in the fall is on Friday, Sept. 1 in Bonnyville, against the Whitecourt Cats.
