Scarborough football kicks off with expansion this season
League prepares to kick off 20th season
When the Scarborough Minor Football Association kicks off its 20th spring-summer season later this month it will do so with a couple of new additions to the lineup.
The Scarborough-based organization, which uses Birchmount Park Stadium and houses Ontario Varsity Football League and Central Ontario Minor Football League teams, installed a peewee and a flag football program to compliment its roster last year.
The association didn't quite get a mite program off the ground like it wanted to this year, but it is running with a tackle house league, according to organizers.
The expansion will mean 120 more kids (aged six to 13) will take to the gridiron this summer, many of them for the first time.
"We really didn't want to turn kids away this year ... that has been a big reason why we started it," said association President Dwayne Rabideau, noting that the startup league runs alongside a program called One Up, a grassroots initiative for youngsters that is seeing tremendous interest of late.
One Up, which teaches the fundamentals of the game, has been an astounding success since its implementation. The 10-week program saw 90 per cent of its membership look to participate in the association's Toronto Thunder rep wing this year.
"It gives them a better understanding of the game before they decide what they want to do, if they want to play rep or not," Rabideau said. "I wasn't really hooked on it until I saw our tykes play (after One Up training) ... they played like they really knew the game."
One Up draws to a close in mid-April, at which point the new tackle house league will begin.
As part of the new campaign, the association will partner up with one of its rivals, the Markham Raiders, in a joint venture to grow the game in Toronto.
Both have a revered tradition of turning out professional-level football talent.
"They were working with another organization, but they splintered off from them," Rabideau said, outlining the arrangement between the neighbouring programs. "So we sat down and worked something out where we play their teams too.
"We believe in developing good relationships with our competitor, because, ultimately, we're here for them (the kids)."
An association president for five years, who has a son and daughter who have competed within the Thunder program, Rabideau said one of the bigger challenges for parents and organizations is finding enough field space to meet the growing appeal of the sport. Identifying new ways to keep costs such as equipment fees down is another challenge. To combat the problem the association has made arrangements with others to share equipment.
The association has also started blitzing Toronto public and Catholic schools in the city with start-up proposals as part of its new push.
"One of the factors prohibiting many schools from starting a program is the start-up costs," Rabideau said. "SMFA has offered its assistance in getting the school programs off the ground by making its equipment available for use at a reduced cost."
Blessed Mother Teresa Catholic High School, Bendale Technical Institute and Winston Churchill Collegiate have all shown interest and are all in the process of putting together programs.
As part of the anniversary celebrations this year, the association, which sees between 300 and 400 kids play tackle and flag football every year, is in the final stages of putting together a meet-and-greet for former and new players. The celebration, which will include former and existing CFL and NFL athletes that played under the Thunder banner, will take place at Birchmount Stadium June 8.
