It’s still months away, but plans are already underway for the Creighton Kodiaks football season.
The team and the Northern Saskatchewan Football League (NSFL) plan on playing this year, with training camps for teams scheduled to start in late August.
Teams have been told to continue planning as if there is a season coming, regardless of COVID-19.
“The Saskatchewan High School Athletics Association (SHSAA) made us continue on as business as usual. We made a schedule, we had a coaches’ meeting and we’re geared up to start training camp August 19. That’s the good news scenario,” said Creighton Kodiaks head coach Ryan Karakochuk.
“What I know is every sport is following guidelines of the province. We’re in phase 4.1, which has allowed the football fields to open if communities are allowing it. At this point, if the community is allowing it and if the school allows it, I could technically go out and do a socially distanced practice. I haven’t decided to do so, nor do I think I will until I get more information from the schools and how this is going to play out.”
The Kodiaks squad would come into next season full of momentum. They are coming off a championship season, with most of the team’s key players eligible to return.
“I want to try and stay as positive as I can for my team specifically because they’re excited, we have a really good team. We have strong Grade 12s coming up this year,” said Karakochuk.
“The last thing I want to do is be pessimistic, even though there’s days where you seem to take one step up and two steps back. I’m just trying to stay positive for the boys and for anyone who asks me. I’m hopeful sports can return.”
Playing in a six-man league may end up being a positive for the Kodiaks and north Saskatchewan football generally. Fewer players on the gridiron means fewer chances to come into contact with a sick player.
“We’re at an advantage. Being on the field is also helpful and our teams being no more than 30 is also a huge advantage. It’ll be interesting to see, but I think it will be determined for us, one way or another,” Karakochuk said.
When the season begins, much like last year, the Kodiaks are planning to play in a four team loop in the top tier of northern Saskatchewan football. The bottom team from last season, the Pinehouse Lakers, will be bumped down to the second tier, while last year’s second-tier champs will move up to the first tier. That new team is the Ahtahkakoop Titans, located on Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation near Shellbrook west of Prince Albert. Compared to some of the longer drives the team has had to take to games in the past, including a 13-plus-hour marathon round trip to Pinehouse, the Ahtahkakoop trip is the longest of the year at a a paltry five hours one way on paved roads.
“It’s the most geographic closeness we’ve had in the north. The other tier is all western teams and it’s just the way the competition falls. It works so good because Cumberland is not bad [for travel], Sandy Bay is great and Ahtahkakoop is over by Shellbrook,” Karakochuk said.
Ahtahkakoop will join the Kodiaks, Sandy Bay and Cumberland House in the league this year. None of the communities involved in the league this year have been hit hard by COVID-19, unlike other far north communities like Beauval or La Loche - communities with teams the Kodiaks have played in the past.
The Kodiaks currently plan to have a six-game schedule, playing home and away games against each team in the league. Creighton will start the season with a game on the road at Ahtahkakoop Sept. 9, followed by a home opener against Sandy Bay at Creighton’s Oval of Dreams Sept. 16. Cumberland House will come play in Creighton Sept. 23, followed by two road games for Creighton - one in Sandy Bay Sept. 30, the other in Cumberland House Oct. 7. Ahtahkakoop will come to Creighton for the first time Oct. 14 to finish up the regular season.
Once the playoffs come around, there will be a twist with the Ralph Pilz Trophy this season. Instead of both the league finalist and league champion advancing to provincial playdowns, only the north Saskatchewan champs will move on to play more powerful southern teams.
“There’s a little more at stake. Not only do you win the north, but you win the right to play provincials. You lose that game, you don’t play. Your season’s over, just like everybody else,” said Karakochuk.
The Kodiaks will also receive some help from the Northern Neighbours Foundation - the team received $5,000 from the group for new team and practice equipment, including new shoulder pads and pants for the teams and new tackling dummies.
“We plan to get our equipment up to 30. We need 30 helmets and right now we have 23 white and 27 green helmets - we want to bump those numbers up to 30 for helmets, shoulder pads, pants. We plan on getting a new set of green pants,” said Karakochuk.
“We want to get some training aids, some sleds for our offensive linemen, a kicking net, things like that to tighten our training up. That stuff will help a lot.”
