(Photo courtesy/Allison Rogers, Instagram)

By Ben Tompkins

Three-Peat

Melfort connections power Team Saskatchewan to third consecutive U16 Western Regional Challenge title

Jul 14, 2023 | 4:21 PM

The U16 Western Regional Challenge was in Regina this past weekend, as Team Saskatchewan captured its third championship in a row.

The football club featured some northeast players, as two players and two coaches came from Melfort.

“It’s just great to have that many connections to our community,” said head coach David Rogers. “It’s a team made up of kids from across Saskatchewan, so it speaks to the quality of the coaches and the players that we’re developing here in Northeast Saskatchewan.”

Saskatchewan was crowned the Best of the West last Saturday as they dominated their way to their third consecutive gold medal.

They beat Team Manitoba last Wednesday in the semi-final game 49-21, before an absolute onslaught of Team B.C. in the final, by a score of 34-0.

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“Our players really buy into what we teach and we have good coaches,” Rogers told northeastNOW. “We have players from all across the province, and all those places play into having a provincial team. It’s just a credit to the work that these players and their coaches have put in throughout their time.”

At this high level of competition, however, Rogers explained they all know what they are getting into and have the right demeanour when they enter.

“It’s nice because everybody at that level is committed to being the best they can be, and they know what it means to put in the work or they’re learning what it means to put in the work. It’s really just a pleasure to coach and I have a lot of fun doing it, and that’s something that kind of kicks off the summer right for me.”

Camps to get on this team began back in May, in Saskatoon and Regina, before bringing the top 70 together and eventually cutting the roster down to 40.

That, along with a week-long football process down at the University of Regina, which included practices, meetings film sessions, and highly competitive matches.

“It was a lot of football for the kids, a lot of developmental processes for them, and it gives everyone involved an opportunity to kind of get better. For a lot of the kids, it was probably the first time they’ve ever been through a process like that,” Rogers added.

“It gives them a lot of exposure to what elite-level football is like. It’s not just a practice, it’s not just a focus on you, but it’s all that preparation time. It’s being a student of your opponent, learning their tendencies, watching the film and doing everything they need to be better on game day.”

Jarod Koroll was the other coach from Melfort, as he took care of the offensive line, while Cole Rogers was the starting centre and Jackson Baptist was a backup guard.

(Photo courtesy/Allison Rogers, Instagram)

Rogers mentioned it was an absolute joy to be on this journey alongside them, and that for everyone involved, an experience like this can do nothing but set people up for the future.

“We have lots of kids that end up playing in the elite level programs such as the Huskies, Rams, Thunder, and Hilltops,” he said. “They got some exposure, extra coaching, and more practice time here. It’s really an opportunity to see how they matched up to that next level of competition. A great opportunity for them to showcase their talents.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8