The upcoming high school season in St. Albert kicks off in early April for players with the Storm spring league team.
Players in Grade 9, 10 and 11 will get a head start on the fall training camps of their respective teams by huddling up with the Storm, spring league arrivals in 2006 in the Capital District Minor Football Association.
“Playing Storm football means more reps, more games and more training,” said Cody Andresen, a Grade 11 middle linebacker with the Bellerose Bulldogs. “It allows you to keep going and not sit around and do nothing for the whole winter. It gets you back into shape for your high school team.”
As per league rules, there are limits to the maximum number for Grade 11s and the minimum number of required Grade 9s and Grade 10s for each team. The Storm will carry between 42 and 45 players from a deep talent pool of seniors, juniors and bantams. They will compete in tier I, with hopes of qualifying for the tier I/11 playoffs. Last year they finished 1-4 in league play and were relegated into the tier III playoffs, culminating in a championship victory.
“It’s great experience playing against more elite teams,” Andresen said. “It also allows for more improvement with more practice and more playing time with really great players.”
“It’s really cool,” Andresen said. “It’s great bringing the two schools together to create an elite team for St. Albert. It also brings the rivalry down and allows everyone to come together and work as a team.”
Andresen, 17, cracked the starting line-up on a youthful tier II team in 2008 as the Storm finished 2-5 as the tier III consolation finalists. The Storm’s tier I team that year failed to win a game.
“It was a great learning experience. It allowed you to play against and with older guys who were much better than you. It helped you learn different things and it also let you see what the next step is all about,” Andresen said.
Last year with the Storm he tore two ligaments in his lower back early in the season and spent the rest of the season as the team’s cheerleader.
“I’m hoping to accomplish a lot this year. I’m really looking forward to it.”
The strapping six-foot-two and 213-pound Bulldog joins linebackers Jordan Schapansky of Bellerose and Tanner Doll of the St. Albert High Skyhawks, plus Skyhawks’ quarterback Mike Spagnolo, as Team Alberta candidates for the Football Canada Cup, July 10 to 18 at Wolfville, N.S. The final tryout camp is in early May.
“By getting back into game shape with the Storm, it will help my chances. I will be playing with the best players on the Storm against other elite teams,” said Andresen, the defensive player of the year with the 2008 junior Dawgs and the 2009 senior Bulldogs.
After several weeks of indoor training at Bellerose, the Storm practiced outside Wednesday and Thursday at Riel field under the watchful eye of head coach Chad Hill and his assistants.
“It’s great. It’s one of the best fields I’ve played on yet,” Andresen said. “It makes me wish we could start league play right now.”
