As the dogs days of summer continue through the month of August, thoughts of back to school start to come to mind for parents and students alike.
For some that means a return to school sports, as well.
The Dauphin Clippers football team began workouts, Aug. 3, and have continued practicing twice a week.
While the numbers vary from practice to practice, team manager Cam Bennet said they could have as many as 40 players by the time the Rural Manitoba Football League season starts next month.
“The guys seem to be in pretty good shape coming in. Some people have been doing some summer workouts on their own,” he said, adding there is a good mix of rookies and veterans. “I know a lot of the rookies, too, Gerald Lopez has done a great job with the junior program. So there are kids coming in that have played football. They know what 10 yards is. I’m hoping we don’t have to explain the rules to as many as we usually do,” he said. “So it should be a good season.”
The Clippers reached the RMFL championship game last year, falling to the Swan Valley Tigers. Bennet said there are 15 to 20 players back from last year’s squad, though they did lose some key players.
“But I’m hopeful that some of our younger guys are going to step up and become key guys this year,” he added.
Although he doesn’t know what other teams have in terms of players, Bennet is confident that with the numbers they have, the Clippers will be right in the mix for another championship.
“I’m always a believer that when you’ve got a lot of numbers, if you’ve get injuries, you’ve got guys that can go in. We’re really lucky in the sense that we draw from a large area,” he said. “Some of the smaller schools struggle to get 20 kids out. So we’re at an advantage already by having the size and the numbers. So I would expect us to be in the top four, for sure, and hopefully in the final.”
An exhibition game against the Neelin Spartans is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 2. The regular season begins, Sept. 8, against the Tigers in Dauphin in a rematch of last year’s final. Game time is 4:30 p.m.
