The legacy of the Pacers football program will end with the 17-player team of 2017.
Due to safety concerns of competing with such a short roster, head coach Pete Burden has notified the Wheatland Football League that Athabasca’s team has been cut for good.
“There’s no way I could put kids out when they tell me they’re scared,” Burden said. “That was probably one of the hardest things I ever had to do, look them in the eye and tell them the game they love playing, they just can’t do it anymore.”
The Pacers have only played three games this season so far – one exhibition – with a 16- or 17-player roster, facing up against stacked teams of 30-plus players.
The team voted unanimously to continue playing after their first league game of the season Sept. 8, but after their second game – when one Pacers player was sent to the hospital complaining of a neck injury – Burden said he got a phone call from a player who was scared to play.
“I know (the decision) had to be made, but it’s definitely not what I wanted to do,” Burden said.
He added as far as he is concerned the program is done, but anyone else who wants to try and start up the team again next year is more that welcome.
Edwin Parr Composite School assistant principal Sean Morrison said it is disheartening to see the Pacers football program cancelled.
“You know the battle (Burden’s) facing as a coach … It is disheartening to hear. But I know why,” he said. “I would hate to see kids get hurt, because they’re tired, because we just don’t have the bodies to bring them out every single play.”
The Pacers have had a tough time getting started after graduating a solid group of experienced players in 2013, who won the Wheatland Football League’s Tier 2 championship two years in a row. Burden said the Pacers have also won two consolation finals.
Over the program’s 17 years, Burden said the Pacers have managed to send nine players to compete at the junior football level.
“It’s a pretty good accomplishment for a small town,” he said. “We don’t have Bantam programs or Pee Wee programs, so when these kids go to the next level they’re competing with a lot of kids that have played 10 or 15 years of football already.”
One of the best things Burden said he heard about the Pacers program throughout the years was from a parent who said most people collect hats or saltshakers, but the Pacers collect kids.
“We accepted everyone to our team. All the players on the team, we also accepted them as part of the family,” he said. “That’s probably the thing that bothers me the most. Now those kids won’t have a chance to fit in somewhere.”
