Twelve players will return to the bantam Titan squad next year, as the team is strapping up and hitting the field for the first day of spring training on Monday.
“Hopefully we’ll make it to the tier 4 finals again.”
The 12 players comprise just under half of the roster numbers Redmond would like to see on the team, but he says it’s typical that players don’t step up until the season begins in the fall.
“We usually do get pretty good numbers, but experience counts for everything. I’d like to be seeing guys coming back with a couple years experience, but that’s the way it goes. You typically don’t have kids for more than a couple years,” Redmond said.
A number of alumni players will be back to help coach during spring training.
They’ll be preparing for a tournament in Lacombe this spring, but the date has yet to be set. An exhibition game is also in the works.
“We always get into the final for the league, but never seem to get out of there. Hopefully it’ll happen this year.”
The bantam Titans lost to the Sylvan Lake Lions, 46-31 in last year’s final match.
The bantams are also looking for parents or football lovers in the community to step up to fill coaching positions and volunteer with the club.
“We’re always in need of help. We’re looking for people to do it full time. We run pretty scripted practices so it’s easy to orchestrate.”
Redmond said most people view bantam football as low quality sport, but says in recent years it has developed into a complex and important level of play.
“You see a lot of teams at the tier 1 and 2 levels which are competing at a high level. We need the coaches to help with the whole program, not just at the senior level. The plays are getting fairly sophisticated now, it’s just like the high school level,” he said.