Two students from Churchbridge went on a familiar trip to Texas last month. Royce Rathgeber and Liam Bewcyk earned a spot on the Saskatchewan Selects football team and had the chance to play international-level football. From February 18-24th athletes from Canada, the USA and Mexico met for the International Pigskin Classic in San Antonio, Texas.
Games played included: Game One vs Oak Cliff Cowboys, Texas team (loss 36-6)
Game Two vs Score Mexico (loss 16-8)
Game three vs Saltillo Titans (win 12-8)
Game four vs Manitoba Selects (loss 20-0)
Their journey started with an evaluation camp held back in November where the players were expected to try out in Moose Jaw for the Saskatchewan Selects team.
Royce Rathgeber was involved with the program for his second year, having played with the 10U team last year on the squad which was the first 10U team from Saskatchewan to win the International Pigskin Classic.
Last year, Royce was one of the older students on his team while this year’s age classification (12U) put him as one of the youngest.
Speaking about how it was different than last year, he mentioned he was on the smaller-sized end of the defensive linemen but his quickness helped as he was still able to keep up with the larger players.
“They have a lot of positional coaches. Our coach was with the Regina Rams. Each team has a head coach but there are coaches for every position.”
Big-name players like Charlston Hughes and Charbel Dabire, defensive linemen for the Roughriders, worked with these guys throughout the practice season. They started in November and travelled to Moose Jaw every second weekend to be able to play and try out for the team.
“There’s actually quite a few football players who have homes in Saskatchewan. It’s such a strong football culture here”, said Tricia Rathgeber, Royce’s mother, “You don’t realize it until you get involved with this program”.
Royce mentioned the coaches engaged them in “Lots of work on technique”.
It’s different if you’ve lived it and the players absorbed the coaches first-hand experience like a sponge.
“It’s a different experience, you teach it differently if you’ve lived it versus reading it out of a book”, said Tricia.
12 teams were in Royce’s age group. Two travelled from Mexico, the Manitoba Selects program joined and the remainder were from the United States. The Sask. Selects placed fourth this year which was disappointing to some players from last year’s team which won the event. There’s something called the 12U curse as there is an uncanny knack for the Saskatchewan Selects team to underperform in the 12U category.
This year, they did win 1 out of 4, Royce said “We broke the curse which is a start.” He continued, “We learn new stuff every year and they work on everything.”
The International Pigskin Classic started on a Wednesday morning with practice, the event went until Sunday afternoon. They encourage you to stay longer or go early if you want to travel around and visit tourist attractions, as there is no room for energy being spent on non-football activities.
The players would usually wake up at 6:30 a.m. as they have to be weighed in between 7:00 – 7:30 a.m. Tricia said, “We travel with a full medical team, there are doctors, physiotherapists, and an ultrasound machine on the sideline of every game; they take the health of the players very seriously. All the players do preseason concussion testing and use the technology on the sidelines to ensure safety if a player takes a hard hit. It is one of the highest safety rated programs. There’s reasons for it. They’ve partnered with the Q-Collar company so our team has been a big part of that program in the testing phase. Some CFL and NFL players are involved as well, but the Selects program is part of that.”
The Selects program states they have “spent considerable time looking at the studies and talking to a world renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Julian Bailes, and we are convinced that wearing the Q-Collar will help reduce brain injuries. We will help in every way possible to make sure that your son or daughter, playing in our program, is outfitted with a Q-Collar.”
Football organizations understand it is important to take care of your brain. At all levels of football coaches are now taught to teach athletes chest-first contact and to get your head out of the collision. A huge focus is placed on player safety which is closely observed. Even heat stroke is monitored as dehydration can be a concern with the intensity the players perform at.
One practice each day and they recommend the players rest up until the next day. The day before the game is a walkthrough practice but they are in full pads every other day. The last day is gameday where teams played on three different fields. They team plays multiple times in a day and must travel around San Antonio to find their next matchup; Tricia mentioned she was thankful for GPS. The games consist of four ten minute quarters where the coaches play the players who they feel are performing at the top. “It’s been very beneficial from our point of view for skill development, he loves it and can’t wait to go back. If you make the team, there is an opportunity to continue on until the varsity-level. It’s heavy-level football and there are no guarantees, there are no fair play policies and they are very upfront about that from the beginning, it’s about competition.”
“We lost against Mexico but we should’ve won”, said Royce, “We won against the Texas team and lost to Manitoba”.
Tricia added, “We played them last year in the final and won, but this year our players were out of gas having played two hours earlier” (whereas Manitoba had a bye the previous game).
In addition to playing with the 10U selects team last year, he also played last summer on a Selects summer team that hosted Mexico in a tournament in Regina. They brought three teams to Regina and were able to tour the area. Tricia Rathgeber said, “We played 3 games against them and attended a Rider game. Royce was Defensive MVP for that tournament and has been one of the team captains as well.”
Royce Rathgeber, Liam Bewcyk, Elijah Woods and Dalton Norek are athletes from the local area who have joined the Saskatchewan Selects program before.
Talking to Liam Bewcyk prior to the tournament, he said, “I felt like I was ready. It’s something I wanted to do; just keep grinding. I wanted to do more with all the sports I’m part of with other sports too like track for example; I want to be the best me I can be as a total person outside sports too.”
“I talked to Royce about it and felt confident. To be honest I signed up because I thought I was ready for it and wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to reach out for my future. I want to excel. It’s a bond too. I get to bond with people who are very relatable and have the same interests as me who come out from far places just to come out and practice and have a good time.”
Bewcyk said, “You build a bond with your coaches. My Coach, Scott MacAulay is the head coach for the Regina Thunder. Our receivers coach played at the U of S. Our defensive backs coach is a position coach for the Thunder. There are a lot of eyes on you as a player. He mentioned the invaluable bond with the coaches that “helps them see who you really are as a person and as a football player.”
Liam played in the 13U division this year.
Susan Bewcyk, Liam’s mother, said “Liam’s 13U team did not win, but he played exceptionally well. While playing in San Antonio, Liam did not make any mental or physical errors that I observed, which is great because there is a lot of pressure. His (positional) receiver coach Matt Pfiefer, encouraged him to try out for the 16U Team Sask program. We enrolled him to try out, but unfortunately many of the football programs this spring have been put on hold due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.”
Speaking about the recent sports program suspensions, Susan said, “I am hoping that opportunities will still be available for these athletes later this spring! Liam is very disappointed with the current suspension of the school athlete programs at this time, but understands this is inevitable.”
Speaking about the varsity aged players who attend the Pigskin Classic, Liam said, “I have to practice beside them and they’re big dogs; they know what they’re doing. That’s real football.”
Physically and mentally, “I try to live by the quote ‘fear nothing, attack everything’, by Eric Berry when he was dealing with cancer. That’s really stuck to me because it’s something not a lot of people think. I used to get scared and run scared, now it’s just go out and play your best.