The summer has officially come to a close and the football season is in full swing.
Prince Albert Minor Football (PAMF) kicked off the 2024 season last weekend with the Pee Wee team taking on the Saskatoon Steelers and the Bantams playing against the Clavet Cougars.
The Pee Wees would fall 36-14 to the Steelers while the Bantams lost 44-20 to Clavet. PAMF president Taras Kachkowski says there were plenty of positives for the River Rider teams to take away from their first games.
“We’ve got our two weeks of practice before our first game and that went quite well, I think for both levels. We played our first games this past Sunday and both the Bantams and the Peewees unfortunately lost our first games and played them in Saskatoon. When you’re playing in a sport, you always want to be on the winning side of the scoreboard. However, I think on both levels, lots of good things happened. The fact that we’re able to score some points and do some good things as far as the fundamentals of the game in blocking, tackling and all that kind of stuff.”
One major change to the football scene in Prince Albert will be the new turf in place at Max Clunie Field. The turf on the football field is finished, but no teams have been able to play a game or practice on it due to the fact that the track surrounding the field is still being installed.
Kachkowski says the new turf will have a huge impact on football in Prince Albert as a whole.
“I think it’s absolutely a big step forward. Just like the lights getting installed a few years ago was a big leap forward for our football community, having the artificial turf in there is an exciting step as well. It just makes the field a really good facility and very comparable to the ones that we play on in Saskatoon. I’ve wandered by the field a couple of times, once while it was being installed. One evening I happened to notice the lights were on.. It looks beautiful under the lights and I can’t wait for the kids to get on there and play on it. I know it’s definitely a valuable contribution to our community at large.”
The Pee Wee River Riders play in a nine-a-side league while the Bantams play in the traditional 11-a-side format. Kachkowski says PAMF received a healthy number of registrants for the 2024 season.
“Numbers wise, we’re reasonably healthy. (It’s) early in the season but there’s lots of potential and I’m looking forward to see how everything develops in the weeks ahead.”
Both the Pee Wee and Bantam River Rivers play in Warman on Saturday morning. The Pee Wees begin at 9 a.m. with the Bantams playing at 11.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
