It was an overcast Thursday evening, barely warm enough to say it was the first week of spring.
Yet, there they were, 25 spring-league football players on the artificial-turf field at Calgary’s Shouldice Park, Stampeder Field on March 26, preparing for the 2015 Calgary Area Midget Football Association (CAMFA) season at the league’s annual exhibition jamboree.
And hope springs eternal for the Cochrane Lions, coming off their most successful campaign (two playoff wins in 2014) following two winless seasons.
Gone are graduating regulars like running backs Scott Haigh (University of Calgary) and Makani Clapson, and starting centre Eddie Tingley – half of last year’s team graduating from Cochrane’s community amateur football program for Grades 9-11 players aged 14-18.
Returning all-star quarterback Des Catellier was spotted on the field in sweats ... not putting much weight on the ankle he injured last month playing intramural sports at his Calgary high school.
Returning lineman Justin Sambu, slated to play linebacker and offensive line, was banging heads in controlled offensive and defensive scrimmages. The play of Sambu, and fellow returning lineman Callum McCulloch-Graham, will be pivotal to the success of the team this year as the rest of the linemen are getting up to speed with Midget football.
“We graduated 16 guys last year. That leaves us with a lot of young, Grade 9 guys,” relays Lions head coach Jud Graham as his team breaks between jamboree scrimmages. “We got a lot of kids out of the Springbank program this year. The (Bantam) Lions had very few Grade 9’s graduating this year.”
While, aged 14-16, they may be at the young end of the Midget football age spectrum, the Lions Grade 9 cast is bringing bantam-grad experience to the field. And they are fit.
“One great thing is we did a conditioning program at Edge School this year, a strength and conditioining program,” Graham says.
“Most of those Grade 9 kids came out and worked out for 10 weeks, lifting weights and getting bigger, stronger, faster. That’s been excellent for us this year.”
There are still Midget Lions roster spots available for athletes interested in playing CAMFA football this spring. Contact coach Graham at [email protected] or visit the team’s website at cochranefootball.com
Cochrane’s area of player eligibility includes Canmore, Bragg Creek, Cremona, Bearspaw, and Cochrane. The CAMFA regular season kicks off April 1 with the Lions facing the Northern Raiders (Airdrie), 6:30 p.m., Shouldice Park, Stampeder Field in Calgary.
