(Facebook/Regina Thunder Football Club)

By Aaron Schulze

CJFL Signing Day

Regina Thunder dig into the northeast on CJFL Signing Day

Jun 3, 2020 | 5:40 PM

June 1 is when Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) teams can officially announce their latest recruits ahead of their upcoming season.

The Regina Thunder of the Prairie Football Conference (PFC) didn’t wait a day longer than “Signing Day” to announce 53 new commitments, some of them from the northeast.

Two notable players are Ty Milne, a defensive lineman at Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate who helped his team’s defence allow 42 points in three games on route to winning the 4A Nine-man Provincial Football Championship, and Austin Wood, a wide receiver for Tisdale Middle and Secondary School.

Thunder Head Coach Scott MacAulay complimented Milne’s size and wingspan and Wood’s speed as some of the physical attributes that inspired the Thunder to sign them, but he noted their off-field characteristics as well.

“[Milne] has a great attitude, strong work ethic, and seems very coachable,” MacAulay said. “He’s still growing into his body and getting his balance underneath him. A guy like him with a bit more time – matures into his body and puts more time into the weight room and work on his skills – I think he’s a guy who’s going to be a great player for us down the road. You can’t teach size or wingspan. He’s a good, solid athlete all around.

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“[Wood] was everything we thought he would be. He never missed any of our indoor camps, he’s on our Zoom meetings with our coaching staff, learning our system, and being engaged with the team. We don’t have to call or remind him, he just consistently does it.”

Other players close to the northeast region who committed to the Thunder include Tyler Skoworodko, a defensive back from Wakaw, and Tristan Bergquist, a wide receiver from Wynyard.

The Thunder typically carries a roster between 80 to 85 football players. They take around 45 players for road games and dress nearly 55 when they’re at home. MacAulay expects first-year players such a Milne or Wood to dress for at least one game, but said the path to becoming a fulltime, regular player is a lengthy path. He said it can take a high school player between two and three years to adjust to junior football.

“Their role when they first come to us is more about learning about the 12-man game,” he said. “In Ty’s case, it’s getting more balance in his body so he can move a lot quicker and learn our systems. They could be more of our practice roster guys the first year, but again with hard work… we’ve seen it time and time again that the guys who work hard, buy in, and understand what’s being asked of them tend to rise.”

“As the year starts to progress, depending how many games we have, there are going to be opportunities for them to maybe get on the field in a special teams type of role or maybe on the travelling roster as the next guy in. Once they’re able to do that, they’ll probably be regular contributors to our team.”

MacAulay’s hope is for Phase four of Re-Open Saskatchewan plan to have a target date, so the Thunder can begin some specific training sessions with their new recruits.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow