Chase and Brady Norrish are heading east this fall for a new hockey challenge after accomplishing all that they possibly could on the ice this spring.

The Norrish brothers, identical twins from Strongfield who both manned the blue-line for the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s (SJHL) champion Yorkton Terriers the past three seasons, have decided to attend the Rochester Institute of Technology. While there the 21-year-old defencemen will suit up for the NCAA Division 1 RIT Tigers.

“It’s fast hockey and there is a lot of great hockey players down there who will probably be playing pro some time in the future,” said Chase, a left-shooting offensive defenceman who won the 2014 SJHL Defenceman of the Year award after putting up 45 points in 56 regular season games. “I know we’ve got to pick up our game that much more.”

Chase, who will be studying Environmental Science, said they learned what RIT could offer them at a post-secondary showcase at the start of the 2013-14 season. He said one of their coaches in Yorkton had also played for the staff at RIT at one time, which made the decision to go to the school that much easier.

“It was (also) a place for me and Brady to go together,” he said. “That was a big part. (It’s) only one place to travel for the family and we took a visit down there and it seems like a very exceptional school. Everything was right and it’s what we’ve been working for, so it was really a no-brainer to take the offer.”

Brady, who shoots right and regularly plays alongside his brother in games, said the three years they spent with Yorkton was “exciting” and they really want to thank everyone with the organization for the great experience, but they’re also ready to move on to the next opportunity. He said they know a little bit about Tigers hockey such as it’s fast and the players are more mature, so they’re spending the summer preparing for the challenge.

“You can get nothing but better down there, so hopefully it’s exciting and (we’ll) get degrees out of it as well,” said Brady, who is going to be studying business.

The brothers are moving on from the Terriers after the SJHL club won everything this past season. Yorkton first captured their second straight SJHL Canalta Cup with a 4-0 series sweep over the Melville Millionaires last April before taking the 2014 Western Canada Cup in Dauphin, Manitoba, May 3 with a 5-4 win over the host Kings. That win propelled them to the 2014 RBC Cup National Junior A Championship tournament May 10 to 18 at Vernon, B.C.

The RBC Cup brings together the top Junior A clubs in the country. To win the championship the Terriers had to overcome two straight losses to the Toronto Lakeshore Patriots and Vernon Vipers at the beginning of the round-robin with later wins over the Carleton Place Canadians and Dauphin Kings for a spot in the semi-finals against the Vipers.

To read more please see the June 9 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

A couple Davidson School Grade 12 students ended their high school football careers last Monday with a new challenge on the gridiron against the top senior athletes in the province.

Raiders Mike Kowalski and Patrick Nordmarken suited up for Team North in a 7-1 loss to the South in the nine-man game at the 30th annual Ed Henick Senior Bowl held May 19 at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon.

“It was a fun experience,” said Nordmarken, who saw action on the wet and slippery field as a receiver in the game. “It kind of does suck that it was the last game of our career and we lost, but it was just not the scoring potential that we thought it would be. It was still fun to meet new people.”

The low score came as the result of a constant downpour that forced the teams to employ a run game due to the wet ball continually slipping through the receivers’ hands and hurting the quarterback’s ability to grip the pigskin. The conditions did help Kowalski, who lined up as a defensive tackle in the game despite playing most of his high school football on offence.

“That weather really enhanced our game,” said Kowalski. “All week we practised in hot weather that was nice and come game time it was rainy and it really helped our defence because a lot of people couldn’t catch the ball.”

In spite of the conditions, Nordmarken did make the top catch of the game. He hauled in a team-leading 35-yard pass in double coverage to move the offence down the field before paying the price for his efforts.

“Once I caught the ball I knew someone was grabbing me and then another guy came and swiped me underneath,” he said. “It hurt a little bit. My face got slammed into the ground, but good thing for a helmet.”

The highlight of the match for Kowalski was a big hit he laid on the Team South running back in the backfield. The first-time defender showed he’s a quick learn as the tackle also recovered a fumble at one point in the game.

“Other than that I got hit pretty hard against a 300-pound O-line,” he said.

Nordmarken said moving up to the nine-man game in the Senior Bowl from their usual play at six-man ball with the Raiders was a bit of an adjustment because there are more bodies on the field, it’s harder to move the ball and there is a lot “more thought” when making plays. However, both he and Kowalski agreed the move up was a big accomplishment for the two considering they only kicked off their careers in the game three years ago.

“During the week of practice it was really easy (adjusting to nine-man),” said Kowalski. “I was going through drills making sure I was doing everything right, but come game time I got pretty nervous because I was a little worried I wouldn’t do something right. But I think it was pretty good.”

The Raiders minor football team celebrated the start to their inaugural spring season earlier this month with a few tips both on the field and off by a couple of Saskatchewan Roughrider greats.

Roughriders defensive end Luc Mullinder (2005-2010, 2011) and receiver Matt Dominguez (2003-2008) stopped by Davidson School May 10 for a detailed and energetic practice with the Raiders minor football players along with a few of their peers on a wind-swept Kinsman Field. After the practice around 70 parents and siblings of the 13- and 14-year-old players joined Mullinder and Dominguez for a successful spring minor football supper fund-raiser that featured a great meal courtesy of Anne Willner and Linda Haas followed by awe-inspiring talks by both Grey Cup champions.

“For a first time event (where) we didn’t really have any idea of what we would have for total numbers (and were) unsure about how it would go down in the community, I think it was a good first go,” said Raiders minor football coach Blair Frederickson, noting the fund-raiser received needed support from many businesses in town. “We raised about $1,000 in profit and that money is going towards buying three youth small helmets for some of our smaller players (and) about five sets of shoulder pads. Again (being) youth small and youth medium, so we can fit all the players (and they’ll) have the proper fitting equipment.”

During the two-hour practice earlier that afternoon Mullinder helped Raiders co-coach John Jamieson run a group of seven kids through the proper techniques of breaking through an offensive line complete with personal details of times he accomplished the feat during his playing days with the green and white. On another section of the field Frederickson ran a few playbook drills with his charges, while further down the line fellow Raiders co-coach Trevor Ouellette and Dominquez showed the third group of seven athletes the best way to run the football through the types of stifling defences the former Roughrider and Denver Bronco encountered. After some time with each drill the player groups rotated, so each Raider could gain a complete lesson on both offence and defence.

“The on-field portion reemphasized what the kids have been taught already that you need to learn these basics and you need to learn the essentials of football,” said Frederickson. “Even when you reach the pro level every practice still involves going over these basics and going over these essential things that every player no matter what age needs to go through.

“I had one of my players…I think it was from Luke and the kid told me ‘man I learned more in 10 minutes than I learned all last season’ and so I looked at the kid and said ‘so what are you telling me,’ but it was good to have local coaches telling them something and then having it reemphasized by guys who have played the highest level in sports.”

To read more please see the May 19 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The Raiders men’s basketball team are two-time Saskatoon Senior Men’s Basketball League (SRML) champions after beating the rival Pantologists 95-89 in a well-played back-and-forth ‘C’ division final in April before a loud crowd of over 100 fans at Saskatoon’s Aiden Bowman Collegiate.

Ian Kadlec, a guard for the Raiders, said they hoped to meet the Pantologists in the final because that would present the biggest challenge, but the game did play out a little closer than they wanted. He said the two teams, who both went 13-3 during the regular season and 2-0 in the playoffs leading up to their April 13 match, exchanged baskets during the game with the Pantologists holding a slim lead throughout most of the second half.

Kadlec said the strong inside play of Luke Edwards and brothers Anthony, Michael and Chris Eliason helped the Raiders stay in the game. He said their shots weren’t falling in the third and fourth quarter, but they kept battling and hitting their free throws before finally taking the lead for good with a timely steal and a few made foul shots in the last two minutes.

“Luke had a pretty big steal,” said Kadlec, who scored 13 points against the Pantologists. “He had a four-point swing for himself at one (point) in the game in the third quarter where we were down (by) six and he scored a basket and then they in-bounded the ball and there was some pressure in the front court and he got a steal and scored again. That kept the game close.

“Then right at the end we were trailing by two points actually and we had a full-court press on again and Reid (Thuringer) got a steal and went down the court and tied the game and we just closed it out with free throws down the stretch.”

Raiders guard Kattlyn Williams said the 60 or 70 Raiders’ fans that made the trek to Saskatoon to cheer on the blue and white made the final a fun game to play. He said the players don’t really hear the crowd when they’re on the court, but every time there is a stoppage the sound of the crowd cheering for either a big play the Raiders just made or a nice score by their rival makes a huge difference.

“When you hear your fans cheering it helps your momentum and it just makes you push a little harder,” said Williams. “Then when you hear the other team’s fans cheering you really got to try and slow their momentum down because they’re usually cheering for a good reason. It was a loud gym. It was super intense all the way through that whole game. It was just back and forth.”

To read more please see the May 12 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

Teryn Bristow is back flying with her Prairie Fire Cheerleading Senior Elite Diva team and feeling good about taking to the air again just a couple months after suffering a nasty injury while performing a stunt.

“It definitely scared me, but I got my courage back and got into it again,” said Teryn, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student at Loreburn Central School. “Now I feel comfortable. I trust my bases and I know that they’re going to catch me.”

Teryn suffered the injury during a “full out” practice with her stunt group in late January at the Prairie Fire Cheerleading gym in Saskatoon. She was flying in the air and doing a back flip into the stunt when an arm got caught and the rotation on her back flip stopped.

The young Loreburn flyer fell face first onto the mat with her feet arching over her head the wrong way. She was rushed to the emergency room at the Royal University Hospital and fitted into a neck brace.

“I was in the emergency room from 7 p.m. till 12:30 a.m.,” she said. “I took six weeks off from that injury because I had pinched nerves. I messed up my neck a bit and my back. I’ve just healed recently, so now I’m back into it.”

She made it back in time to help the Level 4 Senior team finish second at the ACE-All Star Cheer Extravaganza competition in Edmonton April 12 where she took her rightful place as the top of her stunt group.

Teryn said a top is the girl in a five-person stunt group that is thrown into the air. She said there are also two bases in a group who hold the top along with a third who stays behind the group to catch the top in case she falls and a fourth who stands in front to make sure the top doesn’t have a face fall.

“I like flying,” she said. “You get to do some cool things in the air and you get all the attention when you’re in a competition. You get to smile and sing to the music and it’s really fun.”

The All Star Cheer Extravaganza brought the 2013-2014 competitive part of the cheerleading season, which also saw the team perform at a competition in Anaheim, California, to a close for the Prairie Fire Cheerleading Senior Elite Diva team. Teryn is the youngest athlete in the 19-member club, which also includes tumbling, jumping and dancing sections in addition to the stunt group.

These four sections all take the stage in a competition to perform a two-and-a-half minute routine. To get ready for these demanding minutes on stage, the team participates in three two-and-a-half hour practices each week during the competitive season and also takes part in spring and summer training when not in competition.

To read more please see the April 21 print edition of The Davidson Leader.

The sounds of the gridiron will be heard in Davidson this spring.

A junior athletic association Davidson-based minor football team is going to take the field during the months of May and June as part of the Saskatoon Six-a-Side Tackle Football League. The official kickoff for the Davidson club will occur April 26 with a football camp at the Kinsmen Field featuring on-field instruction from some members of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and Saskatoon Hilltops as well as a couple of former Saskatchewan Roughriders before a community fund-raising supper is held.

Blair Frederickson, coach of the Davidson team, said the program involves 13- and 14-year-old players in grades 7 and 8 practising in town every Monday and Wednesday beginning in early May and playing one game every Thursday night at the U of S. He said the seven-week spring season would end with a jamboree at the U of S on June 21.

“We’ve got about 10 players (signed up) from Davidson, four players from Kenaston, four players from Loreburn and we’re open to Craik,” said Frederickson, noting there is room on the roster for more kids to join and they could do so by contacting him at the school. “With minor baseball being inactive here and soccer just for young kids there wasn’t really a program for teenagers, so we’re hoping this is going to give them an outlet. The ulterior motive is I’m going to, as one of the high school coaches, use this program to build a base for future development of my high school program.”

Frederickson said the games would run with a “shoot out” format where each team gets a set number of plays to drive to the end zone from the 35-yard-line. He said if a team scores they go back to the 35-yard-line and keeps playing offence until their set number of plays is over and they switch to defence.

“Coaches are on the field,” he said. “It’s almost like a controlled scrimmage/game situation. The kids are getting game experience, but at the same time every huddle I can run out and stick my head in and pat the kids on the back and try to correct any problems that need to be straightened out.”

This is not the first time Frederickson has participated in a league like this, as the coach was also involved with a Kindersley team that played spring minor football. He said the program is great for the kids as it gives them time on the field with experienced football coaches such as Jason Low, Trevor Ouellette, Ryan Johnson and John Jamieson.

Frederickson said the April 26 football camp kickoff is going to be open to any players of all ages that want to attend. He said they’re looking at bringing some Huskies and Hilltops players to Davidson to talk to the kids and work with them before having a couple ex-Riders take part in the afternoon session.

“They would stay around and we would have a community supper to help as a fund-raiser for the football season that evening,” said Frederickson, noting it would be open to the public. “The Riders, they would each give a motivational speech at the supper and any funds that we raise would be used to provide for equipment for future seasons, uniforms and other things you would need to run a program.”