Hopefuls for the 2015 St. Paul Lions senior high football team have been hard at work on the gridiron since May 7, with the goal of making a positive impression on the coaching staff. This year, coach Todd Tanasichuk is back at the helm after spending last season coaching the bantam Bengals team.
So far, four days into this annual spring training camp, the head coach likes what he sees, particularly when it comes to team chemistry.
“I am very happy with this camp so far,” says Tanasichuk. “One of our big goals this year is to be a good team and to be tight. Some years, you have a group that will bleed and die for each other because they’re such a tight unit. Last year wasn’t necessarily like that for us.”
He adds, “Once you have that team spirit for a while it is sometimes taken for granted and you assume it’s always going to be there. When it’s not there, you have to start reemphasizing it. So we have been reemphasizing the importance of being a close-knit unit, and so far we have been seeing that. Our veterans have really taken our rookies under their wing and welcomed them well.”
Out of the 33 kids attending camp, 16 are veterans and 17 are rookies. Among the benefits of having a spring camp is allowing the coaching staff to work towards getting the players on the team to work well together in different offensive and defensive systems.
While it naturally takes time for the rookies to learn the systems and terminology to the same degree as the veterans, the transition is helped by the fact that many of these students have been exposed to similar schemes while playing for the St. Paul Bengals.
Guiding the players through the Lions camp is a six-member coaching staff. Tanasichuk, in addition to being the head coach, serves as defensive coordinator and coaches the defensive backs. John Lumby is the offensive coordinator and coaches the running backs and quarterbacks. Steve Johnson coaches the offensive linesman. Chris Schuh is coaching the defensive line. Randall Chris is the coach of the linebackers. Rounding out the staff is receivers coach Maurice Brousseau.
The amount of weekly practices will pick up as the team prepares to compete in a five-team jamboree in Westlock on May 30.
Tanasichuk says this tournament is invaluable for the team’s younger players.
“It is a very controlled event,” he says. “Coaches are on the field helping the kids throughout each of the games.”
The jamboree will be the final event of the Lions’ spring schedule.
The team’s goal once it starts the season in the fall is to qualify for the playoffs, and to improve upon its fifth place finish in 2014. Tanasichuk is confident the team will achieve that aim.
Prior to a rebuilding year in 2014, the Lions captured back-to-back Wheatland Football League Championships in 2012 and 2013. While some practices have been completed, Tanasichuk says it is not too late to join the team.
Anyone interested can call Tanasichuk at 780-645-3850.
The St. Paul Bengals football team is expected to start its spring camp in early June.
