Adam Prudhomme
Editor
A new co-ed youth tackle football team is set to launch this spring in Napanee, designed to serve as a feeder for the NDSS Golden Hawks high school program.
Open to students currently in Grade 6, 7 or 8, the Napanee Junior Hawks will play in the nine team Quinte Skyhawks Minor Football League (QSMFL), which runs April 2 to June 27.
Players must register in person March 26 or March 31 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. just outside the Napanee District Secondary School cafeteria.
“There wasn’t anything like this, especially for Napanee,” said Brock Vale, a former NDSS Golden Hawk who is serving as a Junior Hawk coach says of a youth football team. “I got kind of told in Grade 8 to play in Kingston because there was no team here. A lot of my friends who might have wanted to play and possibly would have been good with (football) didn’t go to Kingston so they had to start in high school.”
A lack of a local program for elementary school age players has long been seen as a major disadvantage to the NDSS Golden Hawks program.
“When you’re playing against all the Kingston schools, they have all been training before high school and Napanee never really had that,” said Vale. “When we start the season we don’t have as many committed people then you spend the whole season recruiting your friends and that takes up most of the time. If you start learning the sport before high school, you start learning the basics. Then when you’re in high school you can improve and just focus on being a better team and learning more.”
QSMFL games will be played mostly on a turf field in Belleville, with two home games scheduled to be played at NDSS. Between games, the Junior Hawks will practice twice weekly on Mondays and Thursdays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at NDSS.
The QSMFL is entering its 25th season and includes teams from Campbellford, Madoc, Bancroft and Belleville.
The cost for the season is $200. Players are fully insured and equipment is provided.
More information can be found on the team’s Facebook page at NDSS Football 2020 or by contacting coach Dave McRae at 613-453-3536 or DaveMcrae@hotmail.com or BrockValeRealEstate@gmail.com.