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Wolverines Bantam Tournament Another successful tournament! As we say above, thanks so much to the organizers, parents, players, coaches, teams, and even to the weather. You all did a great job, and we're already looking toward 2007.
Tournament History The First Annual Wolverines Bantam Tournament took place in 2003, when three teams from the Edmonton area plus the Grande Prairie Raiders and Fort McMurray Ravens took to the field at Sherwood Heights. In 2004, the tournament grew to nine teams, as we welcomed the addition of the Calgary Wildcats and the Sexsmith Shamrocks to the field. Our third tournament in 2005 was even bigger and better, with 13 teams from all over Alberta (including one from the border city of Lloydminster) participating. The demand required us to move to Stathcona Athletic Park (SAP) to accommodate the greater number of teams participating. New additions in 2005 were the Calgary Colts, the Lloydminster Chargers, the West Edmonton Raiders and the Stony Plain Bombers. In 2006, the tournament attracted eleven teams, again from all over the province, as the Calgary Bulldogs made their first-ever tournament appearance. What's In Store for 2007? Unfortunately due to conflicts with the 2007 Summer Games, we won't be holding the tournament in 2007. We look forward to returning in 2008. How Does Our Team Enter? In the spring of 2008 we will be adding a link to a new downloadable entry form.It's simple. Just click here to download the entry form, fill it out, and e-mail it to spwolverines@telus.net or fax it to 780-449-5317. The entry form is in MS Word format so that you can enter your information right on the form, save it to your computer, and e-mail it as an attachment. (Hint: Make sure that your keyboard is in "Insert" mode to avoid messing up the formatting of the form.) You must also mail a cheque payable to "Wolverines Football" for $100.00 to: Sherwood Park Wolverines Football Club See? Nothing to it! FAQ's: What are the tournament objectives? We are providing the opportunity for Bantam teams from all over Alberta to evaluate their teams prior to the season. For many participants, this is the first opportunity to actually apply their learned skills in a game situation. The emphasis is on fun and learning. One of our objectives is to give our participating teams the opportunity to play teams that they will likely not meet in the season, to the greatest extent possible. For example, we try to schedule Calgary teams against teams from the Grande Prairie league, CDMFA against Calgary, etc. This helps to provide an even better experience for the teams and the players. What format do you use? The format is the Mini-Game or Shootout style. We start from the 35-yard lines, and provide each team seven plays to score. If they score, they start again from the 35 for the remainder of the seven play series. Turnovers result in the ball being re-spotted at the 35. A game consists of three 7-play series for each team. Therefore, each team gets 21 offensive plays and 21 defensive plays every game. Each game lasts approximately 45 minutes of running time.
Each team plays four games, and thus will get 84 offensive and 84 defensive reps for the tournament (roughly the equivalent of two full football games). There is no special teams play, and in the interest of the objective of learning and development, coaches are allowed on the field. As an added bonus, we ask some of the teams to participate in a Football Extravaganza the evening before the tournament. This is meant to introduce the event to the local media, and showcase our talent to the spectators. The number of games played will depend on how many teams are willing to make the trip on Friday to play the games. If your team is interested in participating on Friday night, please let us know! Who can enter? Any Bantam team (or equivalent) from anywhere - Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., U.S.A. or wherever - can enter. The 2005 tournament marked a real milestone, as the Lloydminster Chargers became our first out-of-province team (just barely out-of-province, but out-of-province nonetheless!!) We are hoping that it is a harbinger of things to come, as we have had interest expressed from all of the above-mentioned places. Who knows about next year!
What facility do you use? In 2005, we moved the tournament from Sherwood Heights to our wonderful Sherwood Park football facility, Strathcona Athletic Park (SAP). With the number of entrants that the tournament attracts, we needed more than one field; SAP offers this. Also, there are good dressing room and concession facilities. The turf at SAP has a well-deserved reputation as some of the best natural grass in the Edmonton area. What about accommodations for our team? We try to encourage out-of-town teams to participate, and are able to assist with hotel accommodations and transportation, at the request of the travelling team. We intentionally format our tournament as a one-day affair, to keep travel and accommodation costs down for out-of-town teams. And the tournament now has an official hotel, one that has given good rates and good service to our teams and their fans. What does it cost to enter the tournament? Our 2006 Entry Fee was $100 per team. This minimal cost pays for our field rentals and some additional fixed costs (i.e. referees). All other costs are covered by tournament sponsors and our concession revenue. Our structure is based on a cost-recovery philosophy; we try to ensure that the tournament "breaks even" every season. Each player is provided with a coupon for a mid-day meal from the concession. How does our team enter? Entry instructions are published each year on this site. Check back here a couple of months before the tournament starts; usually by May or June the latest information and entry forms are available for download. What have participating teams thought of the tournament? Why don't we just let some of them tell you themselves? "(It might be) impossible to get something 100% right ... yet if there was an organization that came extremely close it would be yours. ... We leave (the tournament) full of praise and keenness to come back next year ... please reserve a place for us for 2006 ... WELL DONE WOLVERINES, IT WAS 1st CLASS!!!" -- West Edmonton Raiders, 2005 Tournament "Thanks ... Our team had a blast ... Count us in next year, it's a great day and good to play other teams from Alberta." --Stony Plain Bombers, 2005 Tournament "Thank you for hosting the tournament and having us participate. We found the tournament extremely well-run ... I have had only positive comments from the parents. Your tournament ... was a good opportunity to play all of our players. We would be very interested in participating next year." -- Lloydminister Chargers, 2005 Tournament " Thanx for the tournament. As usual we had a great time again! It will most definitely help us prepare for our season." --Calgary Wildcats, 2006 Tournament " Thank you ... to your entire organization ... First Class as always ... and to all the teams that participated ... thanks for the great sportsmanship." --West Edmonton Raiders, 2006 Tournament 'Nuff said. [TOP OF PAGE] |
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The Wolverines Annual Tournament will not take place in 2007. 
