A younger group of players on the Olds High School Spartans is breeding optimism for the upcoming Big Sky Football Conference season. The team began practicing last week for its season opener on Sept. 8 against the league champion Drumheller Composite High School.
George Grant, the team's head coach, said because many of the players haven't yet hit their peak, they will have to get familiar with their roles on each play, and going back to basics will also help the more experienced players on the team. The number of plays Grant will also be able to call this year will be limited, until the players learn what is expected of them.
“We're definitely going to have to rely heavily on the veteran presence that we have, but we're also going to have to put an awful lot of trust into those rookies that are coming out and if they continue to progress as they have so far … and continue to work hard and just really involve themselves, we'll do okay. It is a challenge for us as a coaching staff, but it's a good problem to have because we know that as soon as these rookies pick it up, we're going to be that much stronger down the road,” he said.
One of those veterans is Austin Lappage, returning to the team for his third and final year. He said despite a predominantly young team, he hopes the Spartans can get a few wins and go as far as possible. He said that while past teams have been a little stronger due to more experienced players on the roster, he is nonetheless looking forward to the year.
“Of course I'm looking to score some points for the team, but I also want to be a leader … and someone (younger) players can look to for help in general,” he said.
Grant said one of the things the coaching staff will be keying on is making sure that younger players have a good understanding of the basics before moving on to more complex plays.
“We have to really make certain that the athletes understand their role every single play. As we get a good strong base of plays going, then we can start adding on the trickery and allow ourselves the opportunity to grow beyond just the base plays. Once we get going and everybody shows us that they understand the concepts that we're implementing, then really … we're limitless as to where we can go with it,” Grant added.
With that youth, Grant said if the players progress well, when they do return for subsequent seasons, the team could possibly challenge for a provincial title.
With Drumheller being the defending provincial champion, and the Canmore Collegiate High School Wolverines having another year of experience, Grant said the competition will be stiff again this year.
“We've got our work cut out for us; it's not going to be a walk in the park by any means and we've got a number of exhibition games coming in to play this year, so we're going to have to focus each and every practice to ensure that we are as prepared as we can be going into action every week,” he said.
With 23 players showing up to the last day of practice last week, Grant is hoping that once school starts, about a dozen more boys will want to give Spartan football a try. With that number, Grant said, the team will have more flexibility on who can be on the field at any one time.
