Assiniboia Composite High School’s Rockets football team opened its new season with its first practice on August 28.
Practices will run Mondays at Bearss Field at 6 p.m., while games start in September and into October on Fridays at 4 p.m., followed by the playoffs. This season, Assiniboia finds itself in Conference 3 of the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association’s six-Man Football League facing off against Davidson, Lanigan, Preeceville, Watrous, Watson and Wynyard.
The Rockets will once again be coached by Brian Ruthven assisted by a number of capable assistant coaches who are all returning to the team this year. The team will have a new look this year.
Several of the key players from last season have graduated from Grade 12, and the team is expecting a new crop of players coming up from the younger grades. Coach Ruthven expects the season to be more of a building year.
At the same time, the team is looking to develop existing talent. A lot of the players who were new last year can step up now with a full season’s experience.
The Rockets’ players enter the new season with last year’s fantastic finish still fresh in their minds. In the 2016 season, the team went all the way to the league quarter finals and posted a 14-2 winning record over the last two seasons. Coach Ruthven attributed the success to a good coaching staff, who contributed a lot of time and effort to the developing the team, as well as dedicated players.
The players learned more than just football skills, but also about real life skills like dealing with disappointment and frustration, leadership and teambuilding.
To create some early interest in high school football, the Rockets ran a two-day spring football camp in May. The idea was to attract interest among players in Grades 8 to 11 and to give them an opportunity to try the sport. For those who missed out on the camp and would like to try out, they can still sign up for the team this fall.
The Rockets anticipate a home opener against Davidson on Friday, September 1 at 4 p.m. Assiniboia then will go out on the road to play Watrous on Friday, September 8.
The team returns home to host Preeceville on Friday, September 15, and travels to face Wynyard on Friday, September 22. Lanigan comes to Assiniboia on Friday, September 29. The last regular season game will take place on the road against Watson on Friday, October 13.
