Going into their first game of the season, the Jasper Glaciers were already feeling defeated.
The football team had half the number of players as the other guys, they had just lost their quarterback to an injury, and a chunk of the team had never even played a real football game before.
But in the end, the eight-man team persevered, improving with each and every game.
The Glaciers celebrated the highs and lows of their season at an awards banquet, Dec. 5.
“The team progressed a lot over the year. There was a time when we didn’t even know if we were going to go forward,” said assistant coach Jeff Wadsworth. “We play six-man football, but when you have less than 10 guys that’s huge.
“It doesn’t leave you with a lot of opportunity if someone gets hurt or can’t make it to the game.”
Another challenge for this year’s team, said Wadsworth, was the mixed experience of its players.
“In this football league we have players from Grade 9 to 12, so on our team we only had a few Grade 12s and 11s with experience, but with so little players we had to put in our inexperienced Grade 9 players,” he said. “Normally Grade 9s and 10s don’t even get to play in this league.
“It was pretty intimidating at first for our younger guys.”
As the assistant coach reflected on the season, he described one of the team’s first away games.
“If you show up at a game and everyone is three inches shorter than you and about 40 pounds lighter then you’re going to feel confident. Well, that was the exact opposite for our team,” he said. “A lot of the time our small team showed up to go against about 22 huge Grade 12 boys.
“We just had to keep reminding them that if they believed in themselves then they could do it. About 30 per cent of this game is all in the head.”
However, as the season went on, Wadsworth said the older Glaciers started mentoring their younger teammates, strengthening the team’s bond.
“When you have a small roster then you really have to work as a team. You really get to know each other’s strengths,” the assistant coach said. “We were small, but these guys had a lot of heart and they were never willing to give up.”
By the end of the season, Wadsworth said even the team’s smallest and shyest players were tackling opponents three times their size.
“I remember at our first game, Hayden (Clark) was really unsure of himself, but by the end of the season he really started going for it, taking down anyone in his way,” Wadsworth said. “He became so confident. It was amazing to watch.”
At the awards banquet, Clark was presented with the most improved player award.
Despite losing most of their games, it’s that same tough-guy attitude that won the Glaciers their final tilt at the end of October, said Chuck MacKinnon, the team’s head coach.
“That game was probably the highlight of the year. We were against a team from Edmonton that was probably three-times our size and we were down to seven guys and we actually won,” MacKinnon said. “It was incredible. We just keep getting better and better.”
Next year the Glaciers will lose three of their Grade 12 players, but Wadsworth is confident the team will rise to the top of Alberta’s high school football ranks.
“Due to our lack of players and injuries we didn’t do really well in the standings, but we did really well in building up the team,” he said. “We’ve got some amazing guys that are moving up to Grade 11 next year. And I’m betting that they’ll probably be better than most of the other teams’ Grade 11s.”
Along with Clark receiving the most improved award, Sean Lanigan took home an award for his leadership skills; MVP offense went to David Broemeling; MVP defense to Liam MacKinnon; the MVP special teams award was given to Luke Eady and rookie of the year went to Matthew Park.
Kayla Byrne
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