Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA)’s newest football team, the W.H. Croxford Cavaliers, is looking to make a major statement in its first season as part of the league.
With the start of the season just days away, the young and eager Cavaliers are ready to hit the gridiron and show the league what Cavaliers football is all about.
“We’ve done a good job of preparing our players for this year,” said Cavaliers associate head coach and special teams co-ordinator Mark Friesen. “Our goal is to do well and we have full confidence that is an option and can become an expectation for us.”
Although this will be the first season as a team in the RVSA, this is not the first year of competition for Croxford. The team played in a handful of exhibition games in the 2015 football season, giving the Cavaliers players and its coaches the opportunity to establish a core group of players and a team identity.
“Being a first-year program last year, it’s not always as enticing to go join a program that is new and up-and-coming,” Friesen said. “However, we had a lot of kids who had never played football before and gave us an opportunity to build something legitimately from the ground up.”
By becoming Airdrie’s third high school football program, Croxford provides another outlet for young athletes to grow in the community.
“Football and sports in general are a great way to bring not only a team together, but bring a school and community together,” Friesen said. “What we wanted to do was create a sense of community and pride in our school.”
Friesen said with a third high school football team, Airdrie football can thrive and grow.
The Cavaliers will play four regular season games in the RVSA, meeting up against the Springbank Phoenix, Chestermere Cowboys, Bert Church Chargers and Bow Valley Bobcats. Although it may appear the Cavaliers first game against the Chargers will be a chance to establish a rivalry with a fellow Airdrie team, Friesen said the team will prepare for it like any other game.
“It’s a natural thing to think that it will be a rivalry, however, we haven’t really thought about it as that,” Friesen said. “This is the first time we’re playing any of the teams (in the RVSA).”
The Cavaliers will get its first taste of RVSA competition when it enters the Rocky View Jamboree Sept. 1 in Chestermere. The Cavaliers will play in four mini-games, getting a chance to pit its offence and defence against the rest of the league.
The Cavaliers kicks off its inaugural season Sept. 8 when it heads to Springbank for a game with the Phoenix at the Springbank Park For All Seasons. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
