CARSTAIRS-DIDSBURY - Mountain View 9-Man Football League coaches say they are looking forward to the 2018 season.
The league has seen some turmoil this past off-season, with much of the board stepping down, but is now ready to go.
The Carstairs/Crossfield Tigers are scheduled to open the season on Sept. 15 at the field outside the Carstairs Memorial Arena.
Also expected to compete in the league in 2018 are Sundre, Bowden, Didsbury, Strathmore and Innisfail.
Returning as Tigers coach this year is Wade Grimm, who says the team has good numbers this year and should be quite competitive.
"We didn't have a spring camp because of changes with Didsbury potentially not having a team," said Grimm. "Lots of the league members resigned. I'm actually the only (board) member of the league right now. I'm the interim treasurer/commissioner, until we find someone else. So there has been a bit of turmoil there."
The Tigers finished registration early in August and began practices last week.
"Looks like we have 15 to 16 kids so we're good," he said. "We have some players from Acme, Linden; the majority are Carstairs. We have five or six returning. We had a lot of players graduate last year but we've some new faces so it's good."
Grimm said the team will benefit from a family with four boys who recently moved to Crossfield from Winnipeg.
"They were fairly active in football out there," he said. "I think they'll be a good addition to the team."
The Tigers are set to open up their season on Sept. 15 with their first league game at home.
Meanwhile, the Dragons from Didsbury are still looking for players but with the addition of a number of Bowden players they are moving forward with the team for now, said coach Dave Cramer.
Cramer is in his first year as head coach with the Dragons after taking over from longtime coach Mark Lefebvre in the summer.
"Our first practice was last Tuesday (Sept. 4)," said Cramer. "We had about nine players come out. We've got about 15 bodies signed up. Of course, we could also use more players. You always can in football. The more, the better."
Cramer said that being able to combine with Bowden is a big help for getting the team off the ground.
"We've got six or seven players from Bowden," he said. "The rest are from Didsbury. We're waiting for one kid from Olds who played in Airdrie. He's experienced so that helps. We've also got a player coming back from Australia. Hopefully we'll have enough to play because we have a game coming up."
The Dragons are scheduled to play their first league game on Sept. 13 in Bowden.
Cramer said that the squad will be very young and inexperienced but look to be enthusiastic.
"The players are pretty new to the game," he said. "We have plenty of first-year players. They seem pretty gung-ho."
The Dragons will continue to hold practices in Didsbury at the high school, but will be splitting games between Bowden and Didsbury, he said.
