By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — A community minor football team based in Davidson, also featuring players from Loreburn, Kenaston and Imperial, began its second season last week.
Coach Blair Frederickson said the aim of the team is to provide local players with lots of experience on the field, in the hopes that it will pay off when they hit the field with Davidson School’s junior football team this fall.
“There’s no substitute for game experience,” he said. “The kids are excited to go play against guys from the city.”
The Davidson Huskies play in Saskatoon Minor Football’s six-a-side league, competing at the Saskatoon Minor Football Field at Gordon Howe Park against teams from Saskatoon, Hanley, Hague, Outlook, Clavet and Martensville.
The team consists of 19 players in grades 7 and 8. This is their second year playing in the city league; they will play every Thursday for eight weeks and end their season with a jamboree at the end of June.
Coaching the team along with Frederickson are Garrett Bailey, who teaches at Davidson School, and Kenaston teachers John Jamieson and Evan Pasternak.
The team practises twice a week at Davidson School but is operated as a community team, explained Frederickson, who also teaches in Davidson and plans to retire at the end of the year.
Last year, the team won its first three games before being moved into a different skill bracket, after which they finished the season with a 2-2 record.
“It gave the kids an extra eight weeks of football,” said Frederickson, adding that the added experience was beneficial and helped make a big improvement with the junior team last fall. “They’re able to see more potential here with getting themselves on the field more.”
He also said the added field time would eventually pay off with the senior team, which struggled last year and failed to acheive a single win. Another factor that season was the lack of Grade 12 players, as Davidson’s senior class for 2014-15 consists entirely of girls.
Senior players Andrew Read and Morgan Manz are assisting the coaches with the community team. They, along with Kieran Boehm and Addison Ouellette, made up the group of four local players that attended a skill and ID camp at Outlook High School on May 2, organized by Football Saskatchewan, with coaches and reps from the Saskatoon Hilltops and university teams in attendance.
Football has grown rapidly in Davidson after beginning from a clean slate in 2011. Last year, Davidson School’s junior team attracted 15 players from here and Kenaston, while the senior team attracted about 20 players.
Frederickson said the teams would have their annual training camp in mid-August, although organizers are looking at holding a spring camp in early June.
“I’m trying to turn this town into a football town,” Frederickson said with a smile. “I’m hoping that these young guys . . . will step in and keep the program going here.”
Playing with the Huskies from Davidson this year are Blake Allan, Jacob Heinrich, Clay Murfitt, Derek Schmiedge, Joshua Warkentin, Riley Berry, Gabriel Charette, Nathan Chomyshen, Keegan Shaw and Addison Wightman.
The team also includes Jackson Firby, Brennon Haffner, Cole Sanderson, Trystan Stacowich and Carson George, all from Kenaston; Weston Davidson, Travis Griffin and Carter Lemcke, all from Loreburn; and McGuire Scheidt, the sole player from Imperial.