UNITY — Unity Minor Football is a long-standing youth athletic program in Unity. Both the flag and tackle divisions began Labour Day weekend.
In 2022, the youth sports organization marked 15 years in the community, and while the pandemic slowed interest and registrations, the program has seen gains ever since.
Co-ordinator Graeme Gieni, who took over from longtime volunteer, Jennifer Wilson, is handling the work with registration and financials.
“Currently we have roughly 30 athletes competing in our flag football program, split between a Grade 2 and 3 group, and a Grade 4 and 5 Group,” Gieni says.
“Kyle Clark has taken over running and organizing the flag program and acts more or less like our flag co-ordinator. He is joined by numerous community coaches who are parents of athletes in each age group. The flag teams have three upcoming jamborees planned with each Kerrobert and Macklin hosting an event and in Unity, we are planning to host on Sept. 30.”
Daikota Tanner, who has been with the Unity Minor Football program for more than a decade, coaches the junior tackle division, which represents kids in Grades 6, 7 and 8. Gieni, along with Chad Walz and Chris Halter serve as assistant coaches.
“We have had a large influx in players this year and currently have 25 players on the roster which is the most in quite a while. Michelle Kowerchuk is helping with managing the team,” adds Gieni.
The minor football league consists of four teams: Unity, Macklin, Kerrobert and Plenty. The league will run for five weeks and then culminate with the championship being played during the week of Oct. 19. Unity’s tackle team is scheduled to have two home games on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27 with a kickoff time of 5 p.m. for both games.
UMF is lauded for being a building block for the senior high Warrior football program at Unity Composite High School as football players come into the high school program already familiar with football fundamentals as well as having experienced tackle football.
The organization has a Facebook that includes updates and news from their program.
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