Bruce Springsteen sang about the pitifulness of old athletes who can only talk about their glory days. But the high school student-athletes in the Classes of 2020 and 2021 won鈥檛 even get to do that later in life around pub tables.
The pandemic devastated high school athletics. Those in spring sports had their entire Grade 11 and Grade 12 careers wiped out. Fall sport athletes lost only one season and can count themselves fortunate, all things considered. The pandemic hiatus ends today as high school league sports remerge. First up is football.
鈥淚t is exciting to be back on the field,鈥� said Mount Douglas Rams head coach Mark Townsend.
Who knows where it can lead. The official website of the sa国际传媒 Secondary Schools Football Association makes that abundantly clear by prominently displaying pictures of alumni in the NFL Chase Claypool of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chris Covington of the Los Angeles Chargers.
The sa国际传媒 high school Triple-A league opens with the Belmont Bulldogs hosting the New Westminster Hyacks at 1:30 p.m. at Goudy Field in Langford, Mount Douglas playing the South Delta Sun Devils at 5 p.m. at Royal Athletic Park and the 颅Nanaimo District Senior Secondary Islanders at Sardis.
In the Double-A conference, the John Barsby Bulldogs host Timberline today at 2 p.m. in Nanaimo and the Ballenas Whalers meet the Langley Thunderbirds at 3:30 p.m. in Parksville.
Ballenas, which went 2-0 in exhibition, is ranked No. 1 in the province in Double-A and Barsby, 1-1 in preseason, is ranked No. 5. Mount Douglas, 2-0 in exhibition, is ranked No. 2 in Triple-A in sa国际传媒 behind Vancouver College Fighting Irish.
鈥淲e never consider the 颅preseason rankings, as they don鈥檛 win championships, let alone games,鈥� said Rams bench boss Townsend.
鈥淥ur goal is to go out each week and compete as hard as we can in the toughest and most challenging varsity Triple-A 颅conference in the province. There will be no easy games, and we will need to play our absolute best in every contest and 颅continue to improve at every opportunity.鈥�
Having won six sa国际传媒 high school championships over 11 seasons, the previous in 2018, the Rams certainly qualify as a dynasty. But that word is never mentioned in the dressing room, despite a Rams alumni list that includes players who signed in the CFL such as 颅Terrell and 颅Marcus Davis, Alex Anthony, Alex Carroll, Cameron Judge and Zach Wilkinson and 颅numerous players who have gone onto U Sports.
鈥淲e have enjoyed great team success over the past 12 years, but the 2021 version of the Rams are determined to write their own chapter in Rams football history,鈥� said Townsend.
鈥淎s always, hard work, commitment and perseverance is an absolute must to get through the rough-and-tumble and into the playoffs. This year is special as it marks the 25th anniversary of Mount Douglas Rams football.鈥�
This season鈥檚 Rams look to be a starry batch with Miltiadis Koulelis, Giovanni Linuzzi, Bryce Reuther, Sebastian 颅Sibbald and Hunter Swift looking to springboard to U Sports.
Perhaps no team was harder hit by the pandemic than head coach Alexis Sanschagrin鈥檚 Belmont squad. There were big hopes in 2020 for a Grade 12 Bulldogs group that was sa国际传媒 junior varsity runner-up two years previous. But five 颅Bulldogs graduated to U Sports without getting to play their Grade 12 year. As 颅Springsteen sang: 鈥淕lory days, they鈥檒l pass you by.鈥� But nobody ever thought quite like this. Today, however, the re-emergence of high school sports begins.
