The Martensville 15AA Marauders are looking to make an impact on the score sheet and in the community heading into the inaugural season of a new AA hockey league featuring 15-year-old players.
“It’s very exciting,” said Martensville 15AA Marauders head coach Ron Biberdorf. “We’ve got a very talented and committed team consisting of kids from Martensville, Warman, Outlook, Humboldt, Waldheim, Delisle, Clavet and Hanley; all the communities in the region.
“We’ve had kids move here and they’re being billeted in Martensville and going to school here.”
In March, 2023, the Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) announced a restructuring of the provincial U18AA hockey league to make room for a new 15AA league, open to players born in 2008. The objective, according to the SHA, is to provide an opportunity for 15-year-old players to develop their skills before moving on to the U18 AA and U18AAA programs.
Martensville was one of eight communities awarded a team in the new 15AA league, the first of its kind in the province. The other communities include: the Battlefords, Melville,Weyburn, Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert.
Warman will continue to have teams in both the U18AA and U18AAA male leagues this season. Both Martensville and Warman have teams in the U13AA and U15AA leagues; while Warman also has U13AA and U15AA female teams.
Biberdorf said the new league aims to fill a gap in player development.
“The players will only qualify to play in this league for one year,” said Biberdorf. “The thinking is that kids who are in their first year of eligibility for U18AA or U18AAA teams could use one more year of being mainstream players before making a U18AAA team. This league will give them more playing time and help them develop their skills.”
When Martensville was awarded a team, Biberdorf was approached to serve as head coach. He jumped at the opportunity.
And a lot of prospective players turned out for the team’s training camp in early September for a chance to make the roster.
“We had a full training camp during the Labour Day weekend,” said Biberdorf. “We’ve played four exhibition games so far against North Battleford, Weyburn, Melville and Prince Albert.”
The Marauders won all four of those pre-season games, but the big test comes this weekend, with the start of the regular season. The Marauders host the Regina Tigers at 7:15 p.m. at the Martensville Sports Centre.
“We’re competitive, definitely,” said Biberdorf. “Because we draw from a big area, this was a top choice for a lot of the kids.”
Seven players on the team attended WHL camps prior to tryouts.
“Our goal is to help the players attain the higher level of hockey next year that they aspire to,” said Biberdorf. “Next year, we want to see all these kids playing U18AAA hockey.
“It’s going to be an exciting and fun season,” he added. “We’re looking forward to helping these kids move on to higher levels in their hockey careers.
In addition to building on-ice skills, the team is focusing on helping the players develop off-ice skills. The team is hosting a charity event on November 4 to raise funds for the new Martensville multi-purpose facility and the local KidSport organization.
“We want to have the kids contribute back to the community,” said Biberdorf. “We’re focusing on life skills before ice skills. The fundraising gala on November 4 at the North Ridge Centre will see the players setting up tables and serving and cleaning up. It’s important that the kids are seen as young, contributing citizens.
The team holds practices every day, and dryland training twice a week. Students are also taking Hockey 10, a physical education class for academic credit through the provincial distance learning centre. Next semester they will take Psychology 20 for credit as well.
In addition to their regular season schedule, the 15AA Marauders will be participating in several tournaments, including the Western Canadian Crown tournament in Edmonton in February, 2024.
The full schedule and details of the fundraising gala in early November are online at the Martensville Minor Hockey website.