Pushing for football:. Nearly 40 high school football hopefuls jostled for position during two mini-camps held at Orangeville District Secondary School (ODSS) last week. Several groups have lobbied for a football team over the years; ODSS Bears will field a team next September.
Read More: [url]http://www.orangeville.com/sports/article/823547–push-for-football-at-odss-scores-td
Add Orangeville District Secondary School (ODSS) to the District 10 high school football schedule. For the first time in more than 40 years, the Bears will put a team on the gridiron next fall.
“It has been years in the making. … This is it,” said ODSS teacher and the football team’s head coach Dirk Leers. “We’re going to start in September with high school football here at ODSS.”
With the rumour being ODSS put an end to its football program because a player had broken his neck more than 40 years ago, the number of students, teachers and parents lobbying for a team during the past few years spearheaded the program’s resurgence.
However, as Leers explained, the team will have to cross a few final hurdles. With football rosters larger than virtually any other sport, the club will need to fill a 40- to 50-man roster.
“It really boils down to the commitment of the students. … It is a two-month commitment,” Leers said, noting falling short of that quota would be the only thing pushing the program off track. “So far we have got at least I figure as many as 50 players coming out in September. … And we’ve got maybe 20 plus players who have played football before, so we actually have a base. It is encouraging.”
And judging by the 35 to 40 players present at two mini-camps held on May 26 and 27, Leers doesn’t think the Bears will have any difficulty reaching quorum.
“The kids, they’re talking about it in school, going around and talking to their friends about football and they’re all looking forward to it,” he said, noting the only reason more students couldn’t participate at the mini-camps was because “we don’t actually have enough equipment to have any more out right now.”
Equipment will not be a problem next fall though, as the Orangeville Representative Football Association (ORFA) pledged to loan ODSS their gear for this upcoming season.
“We had always said if it was ever going to happen, we wanted to be involved any way we could,” said Stephen Ceolin, president of the ORFA.
“For us, it is about getting kids on the field. We’ll gladly donate our equipment to them.”
Unlike many sports programs in their infancy, the club’s coaches — Leers, fellow ODSS teacher Bill Power, Ceolin, Dave Hart and Bob Clapperton — are expecting to see the Bears do quite well on the field next fall.
“(Hart) said he has never seen kids in high school who have better hands in catching the football… in all the years he has coached (in Mississauga),” Leers said, noting about 15 students are big enough to play on the line. “I know it is a non-glamour position but if you don’t have linemen, you’re screwed.”
According to coaches, the only issue that may arise is what sort of physical shape players are in before their first game in September.
“Will we be ready? That will be the scary part of it all,” Leers explained. “Come September, we’ve got a couple of weeks to put the team together and start playing.”
By Chris Halliday
Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.
CFC Youth Game Spotlight: Quebec OL ready to lock it down
