YORKTON – A group of Yorkton athletes, coaches and trainers traveled to Emsdetten, Germany to compete at the One World Bowl April 5-7.
Two Yorkton football players — Ty Strutynski and Liam Bewcyk — with Coach Craig Czinkota and trainer Christine Knoll represented Team Canada by way of the Saskatchewan Selects, a youth football development program based out of Moose Jaw.
"We (the Sask Selects) run from November to February each year and had players from under 10 to under 18 in the program. This year we were invited to participate in the One World Bowl football tournament," told Coach Craig Czinkota to SASKTODAY.ca via e-mail, adding, "we took two a 14U and 16U age teams."
Czinkota said it was likely past tournaments that saw the Selects get an invite to the 2024 event.
"The tournament organizer has invited us in prior years looking for a Canadian representative. I’m sure they saw us play in San Antonio, Texas, and saw we were a top notch organization," said Czinkota, noting there were 47 players players total between the 14U and 16U teams.
"We had great support from all the parents with the logistics moving athletes half way around the world. Making this all possible is the Selects founder and Directors Zeljko and Deb Stefanovic, and their son Matt Stefanovic. Countless hours and effort goes into trying to pull something like this off," said Czinkota.
And the effort paid off, with both the 14U and 16U teams coming away from the tournament with the Division Championships.
"A clean sweep for team Sask/Canada," said Czinkota.
Czinkota noted that the tournament was a learning process, as the rule set for games was that of US football.
"As we play US rules, we have to adapt to a new game, different formation rules, motion rules, etc., so coming to Europe we were expecting well coached teams," said Czinkota.
"We have a great coaching staff that gets our teams ready to compete. That experience is invaluable in preparing for something like this. Plus, Germany has been involved in American rules football for over 30 years. We were expecting tough competition and that's how we prepared," added Czinkota.
"I think we showed the coaches there — who were mainly Americans living abroad — that Saskatchewan and Canada are no joke when it comes to playing four down ball," said Czinkota, adding, "we were physical, smart and played the game the way it’s supposed to be. Our team mantra this trip was 'Bring the Smoke'. They invited us, and in football, to bring the smoke means you are being challenged — to test your mettle."
"You always tell your opponent 'nah bro, you don’t want the smoke!,' and that is what I told our players before we left Moose Jaw. We were going to bring the smoke to show the world what we were about," said Czinkota.
As for the athletes, Czinkota said the experience will have a positive impact.
"All of our athletes took away great memories and confidence in their football careers. To say you went to Europe to beat the best they had to offer is potentially life changing," said Czinkota.
"For some of these players this is their first championship of any kind and to say it’s a World Championship, that’s just surreal to think about at this time," said Czinkota.
"Not only was this a football milestone for players, but a life changing experience. To travel at a young age opens up your world to possibilities, and to some of these players, this is the first time out of Canada and for a lot their first time to Europe. It was for me, and a great experience. So thankful for the opportunity and to Selects for organizing it," said Czinkota.
