Fresh off winning their first provincial championship since 2003, the Bow Valley Bobcats are back for more.
With the season right around the corner, the Bow Valley High School team has high expectations for themselves in league and provincial play, although the Bobcats are unsure of which tier they’ll be placed in due to the increase in school population. The Bobcats could be placed back in tier 4 where they won the Provincial title, or could be bumped up a tier with cross town rivals Cochrane High.
The decision will likely be made near the end of September when the numbers are released for the school population. Regardless of the tier, Bobcats coach Cam Cote says his team will be ready.
“You always want to win, we know it’s a big step up to three (tier 3) but we’re ready for the challenge. And when the challenge comes, we will be ready. If we stay in tier 4, the expectation for this year is to repeat as Provincial Champions.”
With the recent success and growth the Bobcats have had, they will be fielding their largest roster ever when they hit the field today for the annual RVSA jamboree.
Bow Valley will now have a junior varsity team to go along with the senior team due to the fact the roster has expanded to 50+ players, the coaching staff wants to get a look at the new faces during the jamboree.
“We were excited last year about our Grade 10s, so it will be exciting to see what they do on (today) now that they have that year of experience.” Cote says. “It looks like we’ve got another exciting group of Grade 10s coming in this year. We haven’t seen enough of them but at the jamboree you’re going to see some exciting things from these kids.”
Bow Valley should put a strong product on the field again this season, with many returnees from last season’s squad, including quarterback Austin Javorsky as well as almost all of the offensive and defensive line. Continuity with the coaching staff has and will also help the Bobcats.
Cote says there’s a very positive attitude that surrounds the team, and helps the program grow. With that said, this is high school football, meaning players graduate and there’s a learning curve for the new players coming in.
“We graduated some phenomenal athletes that had great leadership skills, who really helped us last year so now the Grade 11s have to step up as they move into Grade 12 and take over those positions.
“Our expectations are we’ll be right back where we were last year with this new group but there will be a little building process with the new leaders stepping in.”
The Bobcats kick off their season two weeks from now on Sept. 8, when they’re at Ed Eggerer Athletic Park in Airdrie to square off with the Bert Church Chargers.
