OMFL: Niagara Storm SV are solid contenders despite opening losses

The Niagara Storm Senior Varsity football squad have started this season off with two straight losses.

That’s the bad news.

The good news however, is that despite those losses, the Storm were extremely competitive throughout both of their games, and they did it with a very short, albeit incredibly talented roster of young players.

“The schedule had us playing the two teams which competed for the OMFL championship last year,” said Head Coach Don Moses. “We could have won both of those games, but we found ourselves too short on the bench to finish.”

In their first game against the Hamilton (Steel City) Steelers back on May 19, the Storm Defense were able to keep the Steelers limited to a mere 6 points leading into the 4th quarter, and the Storm Offense was able to move the ball very effectively throughout the entire game, which eventually lead to two unsuccessful goal-line stands against the Steelers. The final score ended up being 14-0.

In this past weekend’s game against the TNT Express, the Storm’s starting Quarterback was forced to sit out due to an undisclosed injury, and therefore, was unable to lead his team onto the field of battle. Despite that however, the Storm kept the game very close right up until the very end, until they eventually lost by a tight margin of 14-8.

The most amazing aspect to the SV squad is that they have an incredibly talented and athletic team. They never give up and their confidence is completely unwaivered despite these opening losses. They know that they have the potential to become a championship team this year, but they just can’t shoulder the demands of an entire season with such a limited number of players. “We have so much talent, we just need a little more depth,” added Coach Moses. “We need to finalize our roster by Sunday June 3rd. Let’s get those last few players out that will solidify our team. We could have won both of those games, but we found ourselves too short on the bench to finish. We are too good to miss the show this year.”

My personal theory as a coach has always been—no one ever got better by sitting on the bench. In other words, if a player is currently on a team, but he’s not in a starting position, I would think that he would be much better off playing for a team that would actually give him a considerable amount of playing time, not to mention, compete for a championship ring in the process.

Or maybe there’s an athlete out there that isn’t already playing football this summer (maybe he’s never played?), and he just figured that it was too late to register or try-out because the season had already begun. Well, it’s not. New players have until this Sunday’s game to register with the Storm. All athletes, regardless of experience, would be welcome.

Still undecided? Feel free to attend a practice on either Tuesday or Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 at the Beamsville Secondary School. Just show up! Talk to Coach Moses! Meet the players! Don’t be shy! And most of all—bring your cleats! 🙂

The Niagara Storm SV team (0-2) will be playing this Sunday at home (Kiwanis Field, St. Catharines) at 3 p.m. vs the North Halton Crimson Tide.

The Niagara Storm JV team (2-0) will also be playing at home that same day against Halton at 12 p.m.

Don’t miss out!

Follow James Ryan on Twitter @TheSportstender