The Whitecourt Cats Football ready for another season

The Whitecourt Cats Football team kicked off the season last Thursday and are excited and geared up to take another successful year of play. Chants could be heard echoing the Hilltop High School grounds as over 30 football players made their way around the building for their first official day of practice.

 The Cats first home game is set to take place at the end of the week and will be attending a pre-season tournament August 31 in Fort Saskatchewan.

Head Coach Kevin Babiuk says, “We have a mix with a lot of last year’s players. This year we’ve added about five Grade Nines onto our roster. These players can’t play in the league games because they are too young according to the regulations, but we’re carrying them to introduce them to the team.” Babiuk further added, “the kids are always really excited to get back to it. Football is one of the things they look forward to the most and are glad to be on the field again.”

The Cats season ended very well last year. The players played exceptionally well and qualified for Provincials due to the number of games won throughout the season. Unfortunately, they were knocked out during the first round, but the fact that the team made it that far is something to be proud of.

For those wondering, the Cats Cards will be available again mid-September. These cards support the players and help keep costs down as equipment is extremely costly. The support from the public that showed up for the games was amazing, and Babiuk is looking forward to seeing the community come out and cheer on the team once again.

Working alongside returning coach Derek Schlosser is a new addition to the coaching staff, Coach Jordan Potvin. Potvin was a former Cats Football player and after graduating moved on to play one year with the Wildcats in Edmonton and two years with the Rams in Langley B.C and now back to Whitecourt to volunteer and coach his previous team.

The Cats practice consists of running laps, high knees, karaoke, and stretching followed by stations to work on the players’ agility, footwork, intensive cardio and tackling moves which prepares them for tournaments and gameplay.