The 2023/24 hockey season in Saskatchewan marks the first year that there will be a 15AA league within the province. Hockey Sask announced the addition earlier this year, with the new league providing an opportunity for 15-year-olds to garner added experience and bridge the gap between the U15 and U18 levels.
A total of eight teams, consisting of Batttlefords, Moose Jaw, Martensville, Melville, Prince Albert, Regina, Saskatoon and Weyburn, were created in the province, with Martensville being one of the communities to have a team in the league. Once Martensville was announced as a team, the work began to prepare for the upcoming season.
Martensville 15AA Marauders Head Coach Ron Biberdorf explained that there was a tremendous amount of planning that was done prior to summer, and come Labour Day, a training camp was held. The camp was well attended, with 19 players being chosen to comprise the final team.
Players are from Martensville and surrounding communities, with some having moved here and being billeted in the community, to ensure they can attend daily practices.
‘Our training process is very similar to that of a Junior A hockey team. Players are on the ice every day, and have a robust schedule of games and tournaments. We are bringing in experts such a Trach Power Skating, a sports nutritionist, two different certified fitness trainers for dryland training and more. There will be a lot of extra inputs from different sources to help take them to that next level,” Biberdorf explained.
The season has so far consisted of four exhibition games against North Battleford, Weyburn, Melville and Prince Albert, all of which Martensville came out on top in. This weekend will see the start of the regular season, with Martensville hosting Regina at 7:15pm on Saturday, September 30th, and North West on Sunday, October 1st at 5:15pm.
“The first two weeks after training camp, we described it as ‘finding our rhythm’. We were getting the players settled and although we won, victories are more important in March than they are in September, so we just want to keep our eyes on growth and development, adding to our strengths and figuring out what we need to improve.”
In addition to on-the-ice training, Biberdorf noted that it is important to the coaching staff that players also be contributing members of society, so the team will be participating in a fundraiser event on November 4th in Martensville, with proceeds going towards supporting the Martensville Community Recreation Centre, and KidSport.
“We all see the new rink being built, and there have been a lot of people that contributed to the success of making that possible. We want the kids to realize that they are in a spot to help others and do something positive for the community and show our appreciation by doing some legwork of our own. We also really believe in KidSport because there are lots of kids that don’t have the chance to participate in athletics because of family finances and KidSport makes that possible,” Biberdorf said.
Players on the Marauders 15AA will be participating in a Hockey 10 class this semester, a course that is more specific and customized for their hockey goals, rather than a standard Physical Education class.
Biberdorf is looking forward to the season ahead, and stated that, “We will measure our success by the number of players that we see move on next year. If there are 19 kids going away to play at a higher level, your team can win some hockey games.
The goal is to see these kids all move onto that higher level, and if we can see ourselves as a springboard towards that goal, then we will take pride in that.”
