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Thunderbirds look to bolster coaching ranks

Have you ever wanted to be a football coach? Your opportunity is finally here as the Thunderbirds are seeking new coaches for the 2017 season.
The Thunderbirds are hoping to add more coaches for 2017 and may look at starting a bantam football club.
The Thunderbirds are hoping to add more coaches for 2017 and may look at starting a bantam football club.

Have you ever wanted to be a football coach?

Your opportunity is finally here as the Thunderbirds are seeking new coaches for the 2017 season. And depending on the response they get, they might also be looking into starting a bantam-level football club.

“We’ve run our program for about 11 years now,” said head coach Jon Kramer. “When it started, we had about a group of five or six coaches. Over the last few years a lot of us have had to move on.”

Kramer noted that former players who remain in town after graduating have handled much of the coaching for the past few years, though usually most ex-players only stick around for a year or two before they leave.

“A lot of former players help us out with the next group, which is great,” said Kramer. “But we’re at the point now where we had 52 players in the spring and every year, depending on where life takes these guys (the former players) it could end up with just the two of us working with this group. So we really want to get some people more established in the community to get involved in coaching.”

Prospective coaches should not let a lack of experience stop them. Kramer noted that he and fellow coach Shayne Frith-Smith initially did not have any coaching or playing experience.

“One of the big roadblocks for people volunteering with coaching is that they say ‘I like the sport, but I don’t know how to coach it,’” said Kramer. “I think that keeps a lot of people away. But as far as what we’re looking for, we don’t really need anyone with previous experience. Neither Shayne nor myself played when we were in high school, we just came in as fans of the game.

“We’re looking for people who are committed to promoting our culture. The football stuff comes easy. They can kind of learn as they go along.”

Coaches will be sent to the University of Alberta’s coaching-clinic program, which will get them up to speed on leadership techniques for the various positions. Another motivation of the volunteer drive is getting enough coaches together to start a bantam-level club.

“We’ve started throwing around the idea. The hope is that when students start up at R.F. Staples they have a chance to tie into the culture and program right from Day 1.”

As it stands now, junior high students have to wait until Grade 9 until they can practice with the team, but can’t take to the field until they’re in Grade 10.

“My hope is to get a few more coaches to join the program and then work together to launch this bantam program, either for the upcoming fall season or the one after that. That would be really big for us and for the school.”

Interested volunteers should be prepared to commit to a few months of being available on weeknights and weekends, during spring training camp in May and then for the regular season from mid-August to the November. Practices run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, while games are typically Friday and Saturday.

“It’s one of those things where it’s the sooner the better — the U of A runs their camps just after Christmas break or just after New Year,” he said. “So if there are people are interested, it would great to be in touch now.”

Kramer stressed that the offer was open to anyone willing to commit the time, regardless of experience or even gender.

“We’re happy to take on women coaches, too. For a couple seasons we had a lady out of Devon who actually drove up to coach with us. She was awesome. A better coach than me, actually. We’re open to anyone. The main requirement is someone who cares about the youth and can make the time to work with these guys.”

Would-be applicants should contact Kramer at 780-283-0107.

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