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Football Border Wars tryout Aug. 6

Next month, Prince George football players ranging in age from 12-18 will get a chance to audition to represent B.C. in the annual Alberta-B.C. Border Bowl games.

Next month, Prince George football players ranging in age from 12-18 will get a chance to audition to represent B.C. in the annual Alberta-B.C. Border Bowl games.

The head coaches of each of the four provincial teams for Border Bowls will get a firsthand look at the talent available in the north central Interior when they attend the tryout, set for Saturday, Aug. 6 from 9-11 a.m. at D.P. Todd secondary school field.

"The biggest thing is they get great coaching and they will get exposure," said Mike Rositano, who, along with Don Williams, co-ordinates zone bowls for the northern region. "So many kidshave been recognized from this, it's opened up more doors for the kids from the north than I've seen in the last 20 years. There's also kids from Vanderhoof and Quesnel represented.

"The Border Bowls have really opened up opportunities for kids to play at a higher level than they're used to, so when they go to play in zone bowl championships or all-star games they're not out of place."

Players in Grades 6 and 7 as of September will be trying out for BC Young Stars; those in Grades 8 and 9 are vying for a spot in the BC Future Stars game; Grade 10 and 11 players are after BC Rising Stars spots; and the Grade 11 and 12s will try to make the BC Current Stars team.

The cost is $50 per player. Last year's Border Bowls tryout attracted about 65 players.

"The difference this year is we're bringing up the head coach of all four teams, so they actually get a chance to look," said Rositano, defensive line coach for B.C's Rising Stars and Current Stars teams. "Last year they didn't come up and they missed out on a lot of talent."

Border Bowls games will be played late this fall in Kamloops and Chilliwack and will be webcast for university coaches to watch and use as a recruitment tool.

Border Bowls teams also play a game in May. Rositano said there was at least one Prince George player in each age group singled out for awards at the conclusion of this year's game. The Alberta-B.C. winner will play in the Maple Syrup Cup championship against the Ontario-Quebec winner, a single-game national final to be played next June in Chilliwack.

SUBHEAD D.P. Todd returning to high school football SUBHEAD

Rositano appears to have revived high school football at D.P. Todd secondary school and expects to have enough players to field a junior and senior team. The Trojans program folded in 2009 due to the lack of a coach and low numbers. Rositano has a lengthy resume as a community football coach and is a former head coach of the Duchess Park Condors. In 2014, he led the senior team to the P.G. Bowl Northern Conference title.

Rositano organized spring practice sessions at D.P. Todd and had 26 junior varsity players and 14 seniors indicate their interest in playing next season, which starts the first week of September.

"We averaged 28 players at practice," said Rositano. "Once we get going we should have 20 or 21 players for seniors. I think we have the largest junior varsity team (in the city) and Kelly Road is pretty close, size-wise, but their senior team probably won't have enough players."

If that indeed is the case, Rositano said D.P. Todd will get Kelly Road's eligible senior players to suit up for the Trojans this season, playing only exhibition games. None of their games will count in the B.C. High School Football Association's Northern Conference standings. Instead, the combined D.P. Todd/Kelly Road team will play in as a midget squad in a nine-man provincial football league and will be eligible to play for the B.C. championship.

"At the end of the (Northern Conference) season we'll go down for a weekend of mini-games where we get qualified for provincials and then we'll go to the provincial (playoffs) two weeks later," said Rositano. "That will give the kids something to play for."

Assuming there is no Kelly Road senior team, D.P. Todd will play exhibition games in a six-team double-A varsity Northern Conference which will include Duchess Park, PGSS, College Heights, Nechako Valley (Vanderhoof) and Correlieu (Quesnel).

As a result of Rositano's connection with former BC Lions running back Cory Philpot, now head coach of the Vancouver Trojans junior team, D.P. Todd has acquired used shoulder pads and two-year helmets at cut-rate prices through the All Star Youth Sport Society. Community sponsors and the fundraising efforts of the players should provide enough to buy new jerseys and football pants.

Rositano is returning as coach of the junior bantam (12- and 13-year-olds) coach in the P.G. Minor Football Association. Practices have already begun and the season starts the first week of September.