For the first time in nine years, the Cyclones high school football team won’t be storming out onto the fields.
Due to inconsistent turnout to practices, both coaches and the athletic director decided to cancel the team with concerns for safety on the field.
“It’s very unfortunate but it’s the harsh reality,” said Luke Marshall, Grade 12 and captain. “For players safety and especially those with a football future in mind, it was the decision we had to make,” he said.
“Work was a killer even for those who were committed,” he said of reasons for players not coming out to all the practises. “But it can all be worked around. It’s a huge commitment with practises five times a week but if you’re passionate and love the sport, you’re going to find a way to make it work.”
Marshall is one of about seven players who are committed to the game and plan to look at other schools, such as Sylvan Lake or Red Deer to join.
Head coach Trevor Wooff said this was the last resort option.
“I absolutely did not want it to come to this,” he said of closing the team. “I didn’t agree to coach just because they needed someone. I coached because I said we need a football team,” he said of his passion for the sport.
He said the first year they offered football was nine years ago and 50 people signed up. With half the team being in Grade 12 the numbers didn’t stabilize the following year. Since then, they’ve never been able to bring in as many players.
Last year, 32 people signed their names to a roster during the spring camp. Practices began August 22 to get the team in shape for what would have been their first game in Canmore over the long weekend.
“It’s frustrating — we have numbers, just not the consistency,” said Wooff. He said 36 is ideal for the 12-man league but the number they had registered would work. But he said when only 11 people show up to practice and it’s a different 11 each time, the team gets nowhere.
“To have 12 against 12 is ideal (for practice). There are ways around it — we can play six on six or nine on nine to give an idea but it’s a huge field they need to cover and need the numbers to do that.”
He said 12 students are in Grade 12 with one Grade 9 and the rest a mix of 10 and 11. “The talent is there, we’ve got some great people, it’s getting the bodies to the field to practice,” he said adding, “You can’t squeeze blood out of a rock.”
He said one player was absent from practice because of an injury but the reasons why others aren’t showing up vary.
“They want money for their car or their insurance,” he said of players leaving practice for work. Others are involved in more than one sport and can’t make all the practices.
“It’s just one of those things,” said Jeff Anderson, Innisfail Junior Senior High School vice-principal and athletic director. “It’s not just our building — other small schools in our division are facing the same thing. Kids have so many choices. There’s lacrosse, indoor soccer,” he said as examples. “And people are being very sport specific and focusing efforts on that one particular sport which unfortunately hurts the rest of us.”
He said whether they would try for a nine-man league or six-man league next year is hard to say at this point. It’s something they debated trying this year, but with 32 people registered in February, they decided to go with 12-man.
Some options include forfeiting the first game and trying to draw more to practice before the next game. They also tossed around the idea of offering morning practices instead so kids that work could still play. But Wednesday night, 24 players had to show up for the decision and less than half came out.
“For me, it’s not safe because you’ve got to learn how to tackle and learn how to run all your plays before you get through the game scenario,” said Anderson. “I’m not going to allow anyone … to get hurt; that’s absolutely not what the sport is about. It’s about having fun. Injuries do happen but you do everything you can to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
