Practices going well for Ed Henick Senior Bowl in Saskatoon

Coaches of North, South squads get first exposure to 12-man football in annual game for Grade 12 players.

Even though there will be more players on the field than they are used to, coaches Jaret Ross and Mark Anderson don’t foresee any problems.

During the high school football season both coaches led six-man teams. This weekend they’ll be at the helm of the 12-man North and South squads at the 26th annual Ed Henick Senior Bowl in Saskatoon.

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Practices run from Friday through Sunday at Griffiths Stadium and St. Joseph High School. Monday’s game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Griffiths.

Anderson is in charge of the North and Ross the South. The game features Grade 12 players from across the province.

“We trying to promote how good we think our six- and nine-man is by giving those a chance to be head coaches,” said Football Saskatchewan executive director Jeff Yausie.

“We think it’s a way of highlighting our football here. They don’t necessarily need to be a 12-man coach to be a head coach.”

The coaching staff for the Senior Bowl is typically comprised of provincial champion head coaches from the previous football season. This is the first time two coaches from six-man have been selected to lead in the annual all-star game.

Yausie doesn’t believe the transition from six-man to 12-man will be an issue for these coaches. The coaches just need to be a “good motivator, good leader and organized,” while the co-ordinators and other coaches take care of the schematics.

“I’m just trying to make sure that all the guys are getting what they need, feeling like they’re heard,” said Anderson. “I think with players it’s just making sure they’re comfortable and relaxed and ready to give us the best game they can without carrying the weight on the world on them.”

Anderson is the head football coach at Hanley High School. He has been involved in six-man his entire life. He played high school football in Norquay before walking on as a defensive lineman with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies from 1984-88. He coached with the Huskies from 1990-92, winning a Vanier Cup national championship with the team in 1990. He returned to six-man football in 1993 where he began a teaching career at Hanley High School.

His teams had plenty of success throughout the ’90s. Hanley’s most recent triumph came this past year, beating Ross’s Kelliher squad in the provincial 1A six-man final, 30-28.

“There’s no place to hide in a six-man game — you’re out there and the fundamentals become more important,” said Anderson. “Your basic tackling is one of the big things: If you can’t tackle in six-man it’s pretty hard to be on the field as a six-man player.”
Ross, 31, played nine-man at Fort Qu’Appelle in high school and started coaching in Kelliher in 2004.

“That was my goal when I was in university — to find a school where I could teach physical education and also coach a football team,” said Ross.

He has helped out with the Can-Am Bowl, an all-star game between Saskatchewan and American six-man players, and has resided over one of the province’s more successful programs, according to Football Saskatchewan’s Brian Guebert.

This weekend won’t change his approach.

“I don’t see it as a challenge — we still want to play and coach to win,” said Ross. “We don’t want to go in there thinking it’s just an all-star game.

“We’ll take it a little bit serious, but also have a little bit of fun as well.”

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