School is back in session, fall is in the air, and the Westlock Thunderbirds have returned to the gridiron for another season.
Keeping with tradition the T-Birds will kick off their home schedule with the annual Friday Night Lights on Friday Sept. 11 at Westlock Elementary School field.
Coach Jon Kramer said when the T-Birds take on the Vegreville Vortex in the opener, it will be the most exciting edition of Friday Night Lights yet.
“This is the 10th year for our club and so this year we’re shooting for the biggest and best ever,” Kramer said. “We’ve got quite a few things revolving around it, pep rallies at the schools, there’s a raffle going on, and at half-time we’re doing a homecoming and all the players we’ve had in the last 10 years will be recognized.”
Ahead of the 8 p.m. kickoff time a number of activities will take place on the field and Kramer said they’re hoping to pack the stands.
“It’s neat to play under the lights and with as many fans we get out, we’re kind of hoping for right around the 1,000 mark, if we can hit that, which we think is pretty doable.”
Kramer added it’s also a way to thank the sponsors and donors of the football program whose funds go towards purchasing equipment so they players don’t have to.
Beyond Friday Night Lights, Kramer said the whole season will recognize the past nine years of football in Westlock.
Kramer added when the team first started up the organization was told the first four years would be the most difficult. The T-Birds were able to drum up enough support to recruit players and sponsors during the early years, which paved the way for a prosperous football program in town.
“It’s kind of our way to celebrate and thank people.”
Looking forward to the season Kramer is optimistic, but said they will face some tough foes.
“Last year was probably our best year yet as far as wins and losses go, and this year we have some stiffer competition as they kind of realigned the league on us a little bit,” Kramer said.
“We’ll have to play four of the top teams from last year in the first four weeks … we’re hopeful we’ll end up having a winning record this year and get to the playoffs again.”
With approximately 42 players on the roster, Kramer said this year’s team is the biggest the T-Birds have ever had.
The T-Birds kicked off their regular season on the road in Lloydminster taking on the defending provincial champions, the Holy Rosary Raiders. Despite putting forth their best effort the T-Birds fell to the Raiders 46-0.
Kramer said the game was much closer than the score would suggest.
“We’re actually really pleased with the way the game went,” he said. “We played a really good game and we achieved the goals we thought were achievable.”
Coach Kramer said with their first game now in the books the team will focus on fixing their mistakes and building on their successes as the season progresses.
“We kind of view the season as a journey and we look at the first week from the perspective that we accomplished what we wanted to, we got some of the major things done and so we’re well on our way to becoming the team that we want to be,” he said. “As soon as the first game was done they kind of flipped the switch and were already talking about Friday Night Lights.”