Game on for Winnipeg High School Football League

Winnipeg

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This article was published 25/09/2024 (746 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The leaves are falling, which must mean its time for some high school football.

The Winnipeg High School Football League has been back in action since early September, with AAAA and AAA divisions recently completing their third week of regular-season action.

“We’re up to 44 teams now, I think its the strongest we’ve ever been,” said league commissioner Jeffrey Bannon.

Last season, the league changed formats, creating four geographic AAAA divisions of five teams each from Winnipeg (and two teams from Brandon, Man., in the southwest division), along with a 10-team AAA division, featuring smaller high schools from Winnipeg and out-of-town high schools from Portage la Prairie to Fort Frances, Ont.

While ostensibly levelling the playing field, a small group of teams managed to dominate play last season, leading to a showdown between Grant Park Pirates and the Dakota Lancers for AAAA championship, which Dakota won.

“We used to have a league where a few teams dominated. We do have our stronger teams, but we do have a lot more teams that can compete at the higher levels,” Bannon said. “For the first time in a long time, there are your favourites, but there are a lot of potential Davids to take out Goliaths. We also have these rivalries that can come together.”

So far this season, the defending champion Lancers remain strong contenders, scoring 93 points with only one against through the first two games in the South East division, while Oak Park, a perennial contender, scored 128 points while allowing none against during its first two games. In the South East, both Grant Park and Vincent Massey Trojans were also undefeated in two games. While the Springfield Sabres won their first two games in the North East, all of Elmwood Giants, Maples Marauders, and West Kildonan Wolverines won the first two games of North West action. After the first two weeks of play, the Portage Collegiate Institute Trojans and the Fort Frances Muskies led the AAA, both in wins and point-spread.

“Most schools that have success at the varsity level have strong junior varsity programs,” Bannon noted.

The league runs 12- and nine-player junior varsity leagues. The league’s traditional top schools — Oak Park, Dakota, St. Paul’s, and Vincent Massey (Winnipeg) — all compete in the 12-player loop. Meanwhile, 11 other schools from across the province are competing in the nine-player division this season, a jump from the six schools that took part last season.

“We have a lot more schools looking to join, but didn’t have the numbers,” Bannon said, adding that the potential to grow the nine-person game would be huge for the league, and the sport in general, over time. “If we can grow the nine-person varsity into rural schools, we’ll grow the varsity programs in time. To me, it comes down to the academic opportunities for kids. It’s all a pathway to academics.”

Bannon added that while high school football in Manitoba might not be at the “Friday Night Lights level you see in the States,” the popularity of the league is growing, and not just among players, but within the community as well.

“It’s starting to see momentum building. Games are starting to take on a great vibe,” he said. “Go watch a high school football game. Season tickets are free. Bring a lawn chair and you’ll be seeing the future stars of the game playing today.”

Results from the third week of play were not available at press time.