The Penta Completions Estevan Minor Football League helped drum up support and a bit of funding for their 2015 season last Saturday by staging a fun flag football tournament at Dana Quewezance Memorial Field.
Kevin Mortenson, president of Estevan minor football, said the tournament raised at least $1,250 for operating expenses for the upcoming season, but that total would rise once money from the beer gardens is factored in. He said the organization needed to raise money to pay for busing expenses that will incur from the Estevan peewee and bantam teams this September and October when they travel to Weyburn, Swift Current and Moose Jaw for away games as part of their first season in the Moose Jaw Minor Football League.
“Since 2008, we've been playing with Regina minor football and we just weren't competing,” said Mortenson. “So we figured Weyburn is in this (Moose Jaw Minor Football League), Swift Current, Moose Jaw has got three teams and Assiniboia has got a team. We just thought we'd size up better with these teams. We'd compete better. That would hopefully drum up more interest from the kids.”
Mortenson said there are 69 kids registered for minor football now, with 20 each on the bantam and peewee teams and 29 on the atom learn-to-play squad. He said the hope is more kids will sign up for the 12-man tackle bantam and peewee teams before the season kicks off Sept. 2, but if they have to play both ways they will.
With the amount of kids in atom the plan is to resurrect the Pumas team and have them scrimmage against the Miners. Mortenson said when the Weyburn atom football club wants to play 12-man, they'll just have the Pumas and Miners both play with each team taking turns on offence and defence.
“We're just going to teach them the basics in atom, not just throw some sort of pass play at them the first week,” he said. “These kids are seven and eight years old. They've never played before. Once they do get to peewee, we just want to see some progression.”
Mortenson said the support they received from the seven flag football teams, who sacrificed a beautiful Saturday in the beginning of August to help minor football, will go a long way to help the League this season. He said it is nice to see the adults in this community giving the program a big helping hand by participating.
Braiden Senchuk, who helped lead the Intercepticons to the flag football tournament championship, said the group of friends and Estevan Comprehensive School football team coaches who make up the team heard about the tournament and just had to be involved. He said it gave them a chance to give back and support minor football again and keep the young players going through the ranks.
“Myself, being a coach in the high school level, we see players develop down in Estevan minor football, down in the bantam leagues, come up and play for us,” said Senchuk. “If we didn't have anything like this and if we didn't support Estevan minor football we would not be getting the players we are getting and it would be a big flop for the program. They are our base and we need to work off that.”
Justis Grimsrud, who caught a key interception during the final moments of the 34-32 Intercepticons championship win over the Wil-Tech Warriors to seal the victory, said everybody was “kind of beat up” from playing four or five games during the day, but they all still had fun. He said that makes the fund raising tournament a big success for Estevan minor football.
“Without people in the community giving some money or attending fund-raisers, we might not have football for kids to play,” said Grimsrud. “It's important people come out.”
Mortenson said the great turnout they had at the tournament and the fun everyone had during the day means they'll likely try to stage another flag football fund-raiser next summer. He said it worked out great in getting adults and parents involved and interested in Estevan minor football as they head into their season.
