SUBMITTED PHOTO
McCoy Colts football coach Jole Krassman, Colt Mason Scory, Hat High Hawk Ira Hozack, Colt Whyatt Mullis, Hawks James Comstock and Hawk Thomas Harrington pose with their U15 trophy as members of the Alberta Selects competing at Battle of the Prairies in Moose Jaw over the weekend.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Medicine Hat was well represented at the Battle of the Prairies football tournament last weekend.
Ten local football players took part in the three-province tournament representing the Alberta Selects football team in Moose Jaw. McCoy Colts head coach Jole Krassman was a representative on the U15 Alberta team who competed against teams from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and two northern Alberta teams.
The Alberta U15 and U13 teams, which both featured Hatters, won their final game and took home the tournament trophy. Krassman says it was an elite experience seeing kids from all three Medicine Hat schools compete at a high level and find success.
“We had guys who were starting on the team, so that’s just showing we have top-notch talent coming out of Medicine Hat,” Krassman said. “We have some big all-stars who are going to get scholarship offers based out of Medicine Hat, so it just shows how good the local talent here is. This just gives the kids a chance to refine their skills and I’m super proud to be coaching all of the athletes. We had Rangeland well represented with players from Brooks, too.
“Hopefully we can keep this pipeline going and next year we can double our numbers out of Medicine Hat and just keep this a steady option for kids to get themselves on a showcase map to expand their football past high school if they want.”
Medicine Hat was represented by Crescent Heights Vikings Finn Unger and Carter MacLean, McCoy Colts Mason Scory, Thomas Harrington and Whyatt Mullis and Hat High Hawks Ira Hozack and James Comstock.
The goals outlined by Selects Football and the Battle of the Prairies is to teach young athletes the commitment, training, hard work, dedication, co-operation and respect while also giving them a place to showcase their skills to USports, CJFL and NCAA coaches and scouts. The next step for the Alberta Selects team is a trip to San Antonio at the end of the month for a tournament called the ‘International Border Wars’ featuring teams from Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Krassman says the weekend in Moose Jaw and the Selects experience is about developing the players and networking to help further build football in the city.
“When we get to this level, we don’t care what colour you’re wearing, we’re all football Medicine Hat,” Krassman said. “We have impact players coming out of Medicine Hat, we’re showcasing our talent coming out of the south and we’re starting to turn some heads. Kids are looking and coaches are looking at us.
“We’re setting up a lot of pipelines with universities, junior football teams, all of these guys are all affiliated in their own way. It’s just going to create more opportunities to keep building football and sending kids to that next level. So I was super proud of the kids and how they performed.”
