The Westlock Thunderbirds were slated to play Cold Lake Sept. 27 for their fifth game of the Wheatland Football League season, but had to forfeit the game due to the flu which decimated the roster.
“It’s disappointing for the players and coaches, too. It’s the first time we’ve had to do it in the history of our program,” said coach Jon Kramer.
Kramer explained that out of an original roster of 27, the team was down to 21 for the last game in Wainwright and finished with 19.
“We thought we’d be OK because we thought we’d be getting a few guys back, but the flu bug hit and the guys who were supposed to be back in time weren’t ready yet.”
With less than a dozen high schoolers at practice Sept. 25, they had to make the call to Cold Lake and cancel.
The game would have been a good one for the Thunderbirds to take part in, since the Royals are on the same level and it could have resulted in their first win of the season.
The full schedule, with a game every weekend, doesn’t allow for a rescheduling of the match, but Kramer said they might end up playing them in the playoffs, where the top four teams and the bottom three are split into an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ side.
“We expect that it’ll be us, Wainwright and Cold Lake (on the ‘B’ side) just by how the season has played out.”
The Friday Night Lights game is set for Oct. 4 against the Bonnyville Voyageurs, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Westlock Elementary School field. The big home game is when the whole community goes out of its way for the experience, with activities starting at 5 p.m., all in support the Thunderbirds.
“You can’t really call it a perfect season when you’re 0-4, but we’ve got an excellent group of players and coaches.
“They just show up to practice every day, undeterred by losses or the scoreboard and they’re saying ‘what can we work on this week’ and we’ve been doing that consistently.”
Following Friday Night Lights, the club heads to Olds Oct. 11 for an exhibition game, and then playoffs will start Oct. 19 in either Wainwright or Cold Lake — it all depends on who loses. A playoff win there would mean one more game Oct. 26, which would also be on the road.
