New jerseys and equipment weren’t the only thing that stood out on the football field last Friday.
Moscrop’s AA varsity football team crackled with new energy in their game against visiting Nanaimo after receiving some fresh jerseys and brand new equipment thanks to the Nissan Kickoff Project, a national initiative supported by the CFL and Nissan Canada.
Moscrop was chosen as one of more than 26 schools across the country to receive support through the program. Nominated by B.C. High School Football’s board of directors, Moscrop coaches Ian Buchanan and Craig Bymoen were contacted by Nissan and the board earlier this year about the program, but neither coach wanted to get their hopes up too soon, in case it fell through.
“I kept thinking to myself, ‘I want to wait and see what happens,’” Bymoen said.
Then, as time went on, and reps from the Kickoff Project started reaching out to Bymoen and Buchanan and asking what they wanted for the team, they soon realized this was actually happening.
“We understand how much this all costs so this definitely gave us a lifeline and allows us to keep moving forward,” Bymoen said.
Representatives from Nissan and the B.C. Lions were at Moscrop Secondary School on Friday, Sept. 25 to hand out the new gear, and while the coaches and players already knew what was going to happening it was still received with excitement.
“It brings a new energy. The kids, you can see a change in them,” Bymoen said.
“We’re hoping this kind of brings a new energy to Moscrop football, that it’s something that will attract more kids and make them see we’re doing everything we can to keep the program moving forward and bring more kids out,” he added
And keeping the program moving forward is key to both Bymoen and Buchanan. The relatively small AA varsity is a blended group of students from grades 9 through to 12 with no distinct junior and senior team. The new gear means the older stuff can be passed down to younger players in an attempt to get a junior program started at the school.
But on Friday, the team’s focus was their game against Nanaimo.
After a devastating 24-0 loss to Surrey’s Earl Marriot Secondary the week before, Moscrop was looking to prove themselves, Bymoen said.
“We put a bit of a challenge to them, and we asked them to come out better than what they played the previous, because we felt they were a bit flat and as such it was very evident in their play,” Bymoen told the NOW.
But it took a little while for the team to warm up, trailing 8-0 by the end of the first quarter.
“We’ve got a really good group of kids that have really come together as a cohesive unit. They’re starting to play together as that true team, so to speak, and I’ve had teams in the past that have had a lot of talent, but they just never come together as that team and it shows in the product on the field,” Bymoen said.
His current team, however, made up of a strong core group of Grade 12 students who’ve been with the program since Grade 9, have been able to tap into that team spirit and on Friday it finally started to show.
Up until halftime, the Panthers were a little slow on the take, letting the visiting team take command of the game. But in the third and fourth quarter the boys really shined, scoring 20 points to surpass Nanaimo and hold on to the lead right to the last whistle.
One thing Bymoen wants the boys to work on in preparation for the regular season start on Oct. 16 is playing consistently throughout the game.
“We need to play to our abilities right at the first kick-off, right from the first quarter,” he said.
With a win now under their belts, the team gets a week off to prepare for their match next week against Valleyview Secondary, an Okanagan AA team from Kamloops – a team coached by Bymoen’s brother Corey.
“Little sibling rivalry there. Bragging rights for the year anyways,” he laughed. “It should be a good match-up. They’re a big team, and I have a lot respect for my brother, the coach, so they’re going to be well-coached as well, so it’s going to be a good game.”
Moscrop hosts Valleyview at Burnaby Lake on Friday, Oct. 9. Kick-off is at 2 p.m.
