Penta Completions Estevan Minor Football (EMF) players will begin to sport consistent colours among its three divisions next season.
Kevin Mortenson, vice-president of EMF, said the newly renamed Power Dodge atom Cudas, which is short for Barracudas, will likely be the first team to model the grey jerseys that will feature black and green shoulder designs and the name Estevan across the chest. He said there is a possibility that the Lions Club bantam Oilers will also move into the new gear for the 2017 season with the Chargers following suit in coming years.
The new uniforms and name change for the atom team, which was formerly called the Miners, were announced at the EMF annual general meeting at the Days Inn Fireside Room last Tuesday. Mortenson also announced his resignation from the position of EMF president, due to a work-related conflict next summer. Former vice-president Paul Duncan was elected into the role.
Duncan said building sponsorship opportunities from local citizens and businesses towards their teams will be a focus of his two-year term as president. He said one avenue he’d like to move into is having individual player jerseys sponsored, like teams such as the Estevan Power Dodge Bruins have done, in a bid to build revenue and support for the organization.
Mortenson indicated the number of kids registered in minor football has almost doubled over the past two years with 105 players suiting up for the atom, peewee or bantam team in 2016. This is in comparison with the 90 kids who signed up for football in 2015 and the approximately 60 youngsters that registered in 2014.
He said the club’s continued success on the field, including the Chargers making it to the Moose Jaw Minor Football League championship final last month and the Oilers enjoying their most successful season ever, is a result of this growth in numbers. The hope is these gains continue, noted Mortenson, but for that to occur they’ll also need more volunteer support.
“Next year we’re going to need more on-field personnel,” said Mortenson. “We’re going to need more coaches. We’re working on getting more (coaching) clinics down here. We’re especially going to need some field officials. We’re at a minimum. We always consistently have to bring people from Weyburn and (elsewhere) down and that’s not a bad thing, but it would be nice if we had some more local people.”
