Excitement is in the air in Prince George as the Kodiaks are getting ready to start their third season in the BC Football Conference of the Canadian Junior Football League. (CJFL)
The Kodiaks open with a home game Saturday night at 6:00 at Masich Place Stadium against the Vancouver Island Raiders.
“All the boys are excited, Coaches are excited,” said Head Coach Jamie Boreham.
“We’re looking forward to getting out on the field, getting in front of the fans, show how much we’ve improved, and we’re ready to kick some butt this year.”
Boreham said part way through last year’s 2-8 campaign, they realized they weren’t at the level they needed to be to compete how they wanted to, which led to what he said was a strong off-season.
“We’re faster, we’re immensely stronger, we’re bigger, all those measureables are things that definitely pay dividends on a football field, but I think the best thing we are is we’re smarter, put ourselves in better positions, understand why we’re putting ourselves in those positions, and guys are taking advantage of it in practice.”
Boreham added they struggled at quarterback last year, but they’ve seen improvement at the position.
“All the guys who were here last year, they’ve taken strides to being better football players, smarter quarterbacks, and great teammates,” he said.
“We’ve brought in Sawyer Thiessen from the University of Manitoba. Sawyer’s going to take the reins in game one and we’ll see where this goes.”
Boreham said Thiessen, a product of Winnipeg, brings experience, a level of calmness and, intelligence to the table.
“He’s a key piece to bringing that quarterback group together, and he’s a bit of a magnet to our players,” Boreham said.
“Receivers, and running backs and, players gravitate to him, and we’re looking forward to seeing him in live action.”
This year’s roster also features a pair of high school-aged players, Peyton Briere and Niko Santos.
“Both local kids from Prince George, it’s fun having them and fun coaching them, and we’re definitely introducing them to a higher level of football,” he said.
Boreham added having high school-aged players on the roster in the CJFL is a rarity.
“There are occasions where in this league if there aren’t high school programs for guys to play in, that’s a situation where some young kids have that opportunity to play,” he said.
“But they’ve got to be physically mature and ready to go.”
Boreham added roughly half the roster is either from Prince George or what he called “Prince George now” players.
“I think it’s around 40, maybe it’s around 44 if we start including some of the Calgary kids that have moved here, so they live here, they go to school, they work here, they’ve kind of uprooted their lives to be part of the Kodiaks and develop themselves.”
Boreham was blunt when asked about expectations for this year:
“Win football games, get in the playoffs, give ourselves a chance to win a national championship.”
Boreham added there’s a lot of excitement in the air around Prince George for the Kodiaks right now.
“We drive around town and we see people, I drive some of the kids around and they hear their names on the radio or Kodiaks, and it’s great to be part of this community,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to Saturday, you guys bring the noise and we’ll bring the show.”
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