By KEVIN BERGER
Local Journalism Initiative, kberger@ccgazette.ca
The Martensville Maddogs football program is now in full swing, with the Peewee and Bantam teams both having played one away and one home game as of Sunday, September 20.
As per usual, the Peewee team is made up of youth in Grades 6 and 7, while the Bantam squad is comprised of Grade 8 and 9 players.
Carlos Estrada, vice president of the Martensville Maddogs, said they have a total of 37 players on this year’s Peewee team, which plays in the Hilltops division of Saskatoon Minor Football (SMF), and 35 players on the Bantam team, which plays in the Huskies division.
This is a fairly typical roster size, Estrada indicated, noting that they can go up to around 45-50 players if needed.
Everyone who wants to play gets to play, so long as they pay their fees – there are no cuts and no tryouts, he said, noting that they are also part of a spring league that is more developmental in nature and slightly less competitive.
As for the current program, “we start in late August with practices, and with playoffs, this season could go until the first-second week of November,” Estrada said.
The number of games each team will play this year depends on how many squads are in each division, he noted.
“This year there’s six, so we have five games, plus playoffs. So the regular season will end in late October, and then playoffs will start,” he said.
The Bantams actually got off the ground a few weeks ago with an exhibition match in Martensville.
The first regular season game of the season for both teams was an away game on September 13 against the Babineau Warriors. The Peewees won 13-6, while the Bantams fell 30-0.
Their home-opener then took place at the Martensville High School football field on Sunday, September 20. Pitted against the top-ranked Ledingham Steelers, the Maddogs suffered two lopsided losses, though the Peewees fared a little better.
Estrada said they teamed up with the high school to host their local games there, as the field they normally use is in need of repairs and a year or two of recovery.
The Maddogs also team up with the Martensville Royals to have their players serve as junior coaches on both squads.
“That’s one of the strengths of our club: over the years, we always have a lot of ex-alumni who don’t even have kids of their own and they come back to help coach,” he said.
Estrada said their regular coaches go through training courses offered by Saskatoon Minor Football and are typically parents with kids on the team.
Ever since its inception in the mid-2000s, when a group of local parents were looking for an alternative to constantly driving into Saskatoon for their kids to play football, the Maddogs non-profit organization has relied on volunteers.
“That has been the core of our club: local volunteers. But it’s harder to get volunteers nowadays,” Estrada said, noting they are always searching for more help.
Looking ahead to the next few weeks, Estrada said they will have one more home game in October and the rest of their games will be on the road.
Most of their away games take place at the Gordie Howe Field in Saskatoon, though they also have to head up to Lloydminster for one away match for the last week of regular season action.