The St. Paul Bengals are back in action with a spring training camp every week night from May 16 to June 18.
The busy training schedule will give players who love the game the chance to play it every weekday, said coach Seth Henderson.
This year's team is on the younger side with 15 Grade 7 students playing their first season with the Bengals.
While some player are involved with other sports and cannot attend every night of training, training every day gives those athletes the chance to play football a couple nights a week when they are not busy with another sport, he added.
“That's one of the biggest reasons why we had success last year, is practising everyday. The more football, the more reps they get, the better of a team they will be."
With so many young players on the team, spring training will focus on skill development, learning how to play different positions from running back to quarterback to wide receiver, to linebacker, to offensive and defensive line.
The focus last week was on tackling, an important skill that will be developed all season. Tackling training started from the kneeling position and worked up to full on tackling.
After the skill development focus, the Bengals will focus on offensive and defensive formations.
The Bengals have a healthy roster of 35 players this season and will continue to accept players going into Grades 7 and finishing the season in Grade 9 into the August fall training camp.
The season starts after labour day weekend, with the schedule to be determined, but will likely have the Bengals compete in three away games and two home games in the Wheatland Bantam Football League.
The Bengals will go to Edmonton for a football jamboree on June 11 and will play an Edmonton team and Camrose. On June 18, the Bengals will travel to Leduc to play the Ti-Cats, the team it defeated in the northern provincial finals last year for the championship.
While the Ti-Cats were well-coached and good athletes, “I think our team had more will to win," said Henderson, recalling that the Bengals had not lost a game at home that year. “It was important to keep that streak going."
