This year, the Martensville High School (MHS) Royals Football team will be changing from a 9-aside team to a 12-aside. This change is taking place due to the growing number of students that are attending the high school. According to MHS teacher and Royals Coach Tyler Munday, “It looks like starting in the 2024 season, we would be forced to move up due to numbers, so as a coaching staff and school we have decided to make the move a year early and we are joining in a joint partnership with Warman High School for the next three years to help us add some bodies and hive more kids in the communities an option for playing high school football.”
The partnership with Warman High School will be done through Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) and students that attend Warman will have the opportunity to play for the Royals. The partnership will be revisited in three years and could potentially dissolve in the future if both schools were able to field their own 12-aside programs.
Munday noted that the biggest challenge that will come through this change will be the teams within the league as they will be entering into a newly created North Sask Football League (NSFL) with some very established programs within the province. The NSFL will consist of P.A. Carlton, P.A. St. Mary’s, North Battleford Comp and Lloydminster Comp. Games will take place against each team in the league once, as well as one home game per school against a team from Saskatoon. The season will kick off with an exhibition game that is still being finalized.
“The competition and increased travel will be our two biggest changes, but our coaching staff all have experience with the 12-aside game, so we are excited to get back to the game most of us played ourselves,” Munday explained.
In previous years, the Royals saw a roster consisting of approximately 35 students; however, with the addition of WHS to the roster, Munday stated that they are hoping to have approximately 50 players this year.
“It will be a learning curve for both players and coaches, but each year, we create some new plays and tweak old plays/formations. The key is always the first few weeks of practice and getting down the terminology and base plays that we want everyone to know and then making adjustments for each weekly opponent.”
The Royals are hosting a registration night on Thursday, March 30th at 6:30pm in the Martensville High School Theatre.
