Bantam football looking for players

The Taber bantam Rebels football team are coming off one of the best seasons in the program’s storied history.

Taber advanced all the way to the Southern Alberta Minor Football Association Tier 1 semifinal last year, in a playoff run which included a road victory over Cardston.

And while the Rebels ultimately dropped the semifinal on the road in Raymond, finishing in the top four was a major accomplishment for the squad.

This year, however, the team is scrambling to simply put a team on the field for the fall season, as only 10 players have officially registered thus far.

“I have never been in a situation like this before,” said bantam head coach Garrett Simmons. “When I first signed on to coach in Taber well over 10 years ago, we regularly had 40-45 players per season.”

Declining numbers is a trend impacting many sports in Taber at the moment, Simmons added, and the bantam football team is no exception.

“I do expect, based on the players we had registered last year, that we will get a few more players registered for the fall,” he said. “That said, we desperately need at least 5-6 new players to sign up or we run the risk of having to fold the bantam team for a year.”

Registration evenings are coming up Aug. 22-23, from 5-7 p.m. at the football shed behind W.R. Myers School, and Simmons added registration forms will also be available at the football association’s Cornfest chili booth on Aug. 26.

The bantam team plans to start the fall season on Tuesday, Aug. 23, with equipment pick-up at 5 p.m. and practice at 5:30 p.m. The same schedule applies to Aug. 24, while the team will also practice Aug. 25 at 5:30 p.m.

For more information on bantam football, contact Simmons at 403-382-0681, or visit the football association’s website at http://www.taberrebelsfootball.com