While other students were relaxing and enjoying their final week of summer holidays, the members of the Athabasca Pacers football club were busy readying themselves for the season.
The team opened training camp in late August in preparation for this week’s home opener, a Friday home date with Westlock’s R.F. Staples at 4:45 p.m.
It’s important for new players to start learning the game as quickly as possible, and for veterans to get back in the groove, which is why the team traveled to Vegreville last week for an exhibition game.
“Our number-one offense did quite well. We scored on our first three possessions,” noted head coach Pete Burden.
The team ran three different offenses in order to spread the playtime around evenly and help everyone get a little experience.
“We wanted to get the guys some time. The purpose was to get the new kids as much playing time as possible,” said the coach. “We had our special teams in, our offense was doing pretty good and we were able to get our defense going a bit.”
After taking the long weekend off, the team regrouped Tuesday to get ready for Friday’s game. The coach knows his team will be in tough against R.F. Staples, which usually fields a squad that is considerably bigger and more experienced than the Pacers. That will require the local boys to approach the game with the proper care and mindset.
“We have to make sure we’re a little more aggressive. We definitely have to be more physical,” said Burden.
The Pacers had 22 players in the lineup against Vegreville and they’re still hoping to see some players from last year’s team return.
The home opener is always a fun event for the team and its fans, and each member of the team will receive a hero’s welcome when they’re introduced to the crowd. The coach hopes to see a big crowd of supporters out for the game.
“It’s very entertaining football.”
The season is over by the end of October, so football fans won’t want to waste any time in getting out to see the Pacers as they work towards their goals for the 2012 season.
“We’d like to win our division; that’s the number-one goal. Number two would be to end up in first place. Whether it happens or not, you’re never sure. Hopefully we’re all ready to go.”
