After five weeks of training camp the Prince George Kodiaks have a pretty good idea about what each player is capable of doing on the junior football field.
They’ve gone through an endless assortment of drills, watched epic amounts of video from previous games, pounded weights till their muscles ache, and have put their cleats in motion running laps until their tongues are hanging out.
Now it’s time to play some football.
The Prince George Kodiaks will get into game mode Saturday night at 7 when they host the Okanagan Sun in their B.C. Football Conference season opener at Masich Place Stadium.
For 82 players, 36 of whom are from the Prince George area, it’s a chance to show what they’ve learned in five weeks of practice and the six previous months of off-season preparation since head coach Jamie Boreham started working with the team in January.
“Training camp has been good, guys are excited and looking forward to hitting somebody else,” said Boreham.
“People get dinged up all the time in training camp and we’ve got our nicks and things but the guys who are ready to play will be ready to go.”
The Kodiaks went 1-9 in their inaugural season and Boreham says he’ll guarantee this year’s Kodiak crop will be much more competitive and will give fans have many more reasons to cheer the second time around in the seven-team BCFC.
Saturday’s matchup is the first of three games this season against the Sun, the defending Canadian Bowl champions, a team Boreham coached from 2017-21, serving as head coach for the three most recent seasons.
“It’s the best measuring stick you can get right out of the gate, let’s go play the defending national champs, and we’re going to see how we stack up against the best team,” he said.
“I think the neatest comment from a lot of (returning players) is it just feels different, and I’m happy about that because I think they’re actually starting to understand better the what and the why and the purpose and doing this together. I’m happy with how they’ve gelled as a team so far and this is a great opportunity for us to be exceptional and stand out and be great, so we’re going to find out real quick.”
Tickets are available through the Tickets North website or at the gate.
