The Creighton Kodiaks enter this Northern Saskatchewan Football League season as the team to beat, but they’re not taking anything for granted.
The Kodiaks began training camp in earnest this week, inviting a fitness instructor to aid with conditioning ahead of the opening kickoff on September 3.
“We’re going to go for it this year,” says head coach Ryan Karakochuk.
To that end, the Kodiaks have about 20 players back from last year’s championship squad. Among them are 14 Grade 12 players.
“We’re really excited because that means that we’re fully loaded from the top end,” says Karakochuk.
Middle linebacker Dean Rainville, a returnee, expects the team to do well and have improved confidence.
“We’re still learning and then see how the season goes from there,” he says.
This year’s Kodiaks feature about 10 newcomers, including three female players. They are the first females to suit up for the Kodiaks, but there were a few on other teams in the league last season.
With about 30 players on the roster, the Kodiaks won’t be making any cuts. They will, however, have to order another five or ten sets of equipment.
“So everyone can get a piece of action at some point during the season,” Karakochuk says.
Though the 2015 Kodiaks are largely intact from last year, the club has a big hole to fill in running back Evan Linnick, the league MVP and scoring champ who graduated in June.
“But new guys will step up,” says Karakochuk.
When the Kodiaks won the Northern Saskatchewan Football League championship last year, their season came to a close as they hoisted the Ralph Pilz Trophy.
This year the league winners will for the first time advance to the provincial six-man football championships against the top teams from Saskatchewan’s six regions.
For the Kodiaks, this week’s training camp began Monday with Saskatoon-based fitness trainer Joel Pedersen, an ex-military sergeant with the demeanour to prove it, conducting drills. Saskatchewan Lotteries funded his visit.
Looking back on last season’s undefeated Cinderella run, Karakochuk says he told one of his players early on that he expected to win every game.
“But realistically I just wanted to see the team grow throughout the year and if we won, so be it,” he says. “But then I knew after the first game we kind of had something going and the kids just picked it up really easy and they just kept winning and we just kept going with it.”
With the season beginning in less than two weeks, Karakochuk will be looking to everyone on his roster to contribute. In football, there’s no other way.
“Without one component of the team working, the rest won’t work,” he says. “Everyone has to do their job in order for the team to be successful.”
Creighton Kodiaks schedule
September 3: Sandy Bay @ Creighton
September 10: Creighton @ Air Ronge
September 24: Creighton @ Cumberland House
October 1: La Ronge @ Creighton
(Home games start at 4:30 pm local time)
