There’s a new opportunity for young athletes in the Lloydminster and surrounding area this fall.
Last week, Holy Rosary High School (HRHS) announced they would be offering teens born in 2008-2009 a chance to participate on their bantam football team.
The team will play in the Capital District Minor Football Association (CDMFA).
“Capital District is Edmonton and surrounding area. They’ve got half a dozen teams in the city itself. There’s teams in Beaumont, Leduc, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Spruce Grove, St. Albert,” said Vince Orieux, LCSD superintendent of learning and head coach of the Holy Rosary Raiders football team.
“We’ve been in touch with them and they’re happy to welcome us in. We feel like it’s going to be a very competitive environment. It’s going to give our kids a really great place to play and just help them develop.”
It’s a competitive 12 aside tackle football team that anyone of bantam age can join, regardless of where they attend school.
“We want to continue to provide a Bantam football opportunity for all kids, and we’re excited about bringing those kids together. It’s great for friendships and developing team comaraderie and growing together as they enter into high school,” said Orieux.
“It’s going to help us develop athletes from 13 years of age all the way up to 18.”
Craig Paylor, HRHS teacher and defensive coordinator for the high school football team, says football is a unique sport, in that athletes with a diverse set of strengths and body types can do well at.
“The surrounding area, a lot of places don’t have football. There’s a lot of different types of athletes and body types that football adheres to, and for some kids that don’t play sports, it’s just an opportunity to have another sport to learn, to grow,” said Paylor.
“And also, it can take them a lot of different places, as we have had a lot of players from our program move on to post-secondary football, and also to junior level.”
Along with this new team, HRHS will also implement a Football Academy, available to Grade 8 and 9 students who attend the school.
“The academy part—they’ll be doing some drills and skills that are sport specific to football,” said Paylor.
“They’ll also get some more education and training in terms of proper stretching, strength training, some speed training. Proper workout techniques, just to build them as a bigger, stronger, faster athlete.”
But it’s not just about the physical training. Orieux and Paylor agree the academy will also help provide a sense of community as players get settled into their Grade 8 year at HRHS.
“There’s kind of a few things that the academy does. It helps bring them to become part of the school community. It gets them involved, in a group as a whole. It also helps them in terms of mental well-being, physical well-being, and just transitions to a sport-related program,” said Paylor, adding he currently has a child in Grade 7 who is involved with the pee wee program and is looking forward to moving into bantam in the fall.
“I can transfer in terms of coaching him as well. And I know, coaching football for the past 20 years and kind of putting my heart and soul into the program and being very passionate about school athletics and how athletics transfers kids into being better academic students and just being part of the community. It’s a passion, not only as a teacher but as a coach and also as a parent,” said Paylor.
There will be a parent meeting in the HRHS commons on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. for those interested in joining the team.
