Sports | DrumhellerMail

Drumheller players shine at first Border Bowl

    Alberta came up short but seven Drumheller Titians shone at the Rising Star Border Bowl in Kelowna.
   There is a new All Star game for rural High School Football players in Western Canada. The ABC Rising Star Border Bowl is for players currently in grade 10 and 11 and will be returning to High School football in the fall from Alberta and B.C.
   Drumheller had seven players make the team, Spencer Fournier, Steve Robertson, Allan Lister, Joey Samoloski, Tracker Robinson, Gage Berdahl and Thomas Borst.
   The game was held Saturday May 25 in Kelowna. On a beautiful night in great conditions, BC defeated Alberta 30-23 in an exciting game.
   It didn’t take long for BC to hit the scoreboard, on the opening kick off, Alberta returner) slipped and fumbled the ball right into the hands of BC’s) who took it untouched for a major on the first play in ABC Border Bowl history.

Drumheller footballers (l-r) Tracker Robinson, Gage Berdahl, Spencer Fournier, Joey Samoleski, Alan Lister, Thomas Borst, and Steven Robertson, along with coach Ron LaPrise and medic Tim Jorgensen participated in the first ever ABC Rising Stars Border Bowl.

   On the next possession, Alberta marched down the field and capped it off with a 12 yd TD run.
   After a BC field goal, jumped in front of a) pass to the flats and took the interception 75 yds for the major and after the convert Alberta was back on top 14-10.
   Four minutes later Alberta hit a 38 yd field goal giving them a 17-10 lead.
   BC then marched down the field and on a third and long, beat a double team and caught a deep pass for a 41-yd TD.
   On Alberta’s next series, they connected for a 78 yd TD, BC blocked the convert giving Alberta a 23-17 lead.
   With less than a minute left in the half BC was in a third and long situation from the Alberta 38 and another Hail Mary was completed for a major and after BC botched the convert attempt the game was tied 23-23 going into the half.
BC marched down the field on their first drive of the third Quarter and capped it off with a 3 yard TD run that was converted making the score 30-23.
   Both defenses dug in their heels, however it was Alberta’s turn to get lucky, as a deep pass that was underthrown bounced off a BC’s defenders head and a great diving catch gave them first down on the 4 yard line. Alberta could not punch it in, as on third down Alberta’s QB was intercepted in the end zone to end the drive.
   Alberta defense dug in and held BC to minimal yds but Alberta let the comeback slip through their hands. On the next two drives, Alberta had two different receivers have passes hit their hands and deflect into waiting BC’s defenders mitts to snuff out any comeback.
   Ron Diaz who runs All Pro Football Camps and All Canadian Gridiron website has been successfully organizing spring All Star games in Eastern Canada and determined it was time to have a shootout in the west.
   He recruited Ron LaPrise of Drumheller to be the head coach of the Alberta team and the process was started.

Rage ride three game winning streak

    The wins keep piling up for the Rage, Drumheller’s bantam girls softball team.
   In their last three games, the Rage have gone 3-0 and are currently in second place in their league, behind West Valley, who are currently in first with a 4-0 record.
   On May 13, the Rage took on Airdrie and came away with a huge 19-1 win. Two days later, the Rage followed up with another 13-2 blowout. The team then had a week off, but came out strong with a 17-4 victory over SBR 1.
   After the three games, the Rage have an impressive 49 runs for and only 7 runs against.

Shae-Lynn Skytt throws a heater. The Drumheller Rage are riding a three game winning streak, defeating Airdrie, Nosecreek, and SBR 1 19-1, 13-2, and 17-4, respectively. The Rage are hungry for some tougher games and will be in Stettler this weekend to face some of the toughest teams in the province.

   The Rage are waiting to play West Valley in June to settle who is the top team in the league.
   “In league, there is probably just the one team that’s going to be competition for us. We have a double header in the middle of June against them,” said Shari Fournier, who coaches the Rage.
   The Rage are setting their sights on provincial gold and the easy wins aren’t making it easy to prepare.
   “It’s been tough. We’ve been trying to increase our intensity and work really hard in practices, so when we head to provincials and this tournament, we will bring our game. League hasn’t been offering that competition, so we’re trying to self-impose some harder training,” said Fournier.
   The Rage will be heading to Stettler this weekend to test themselves against some tougher opponents.
   “We have a tournament this coming weekend where we’ll by playing some pretty tough competition. There are a few teams in the tournament that I recognize. I’m confident there will be some good games,” said Fournier. “That will be our true test leading up to provincials.”
   One of the teams will be from Czar, whom the Rage defeated at semifinals in last year’s provincial tournament.
   The Rage will have a chance to show their stuff in front of a home crowd early in June. On June 8, at 10 a.m., the Rage will take on the Calgary bantam boys team at the Newcastle diamonds. A second game will follow at 1 p.m.

Alberta Golf August championship swings into Drumheller

    Some of the most avid golfers in the province will be descending into the Valley in just over two months.
   The Alberta Golf Association (AGA) has scheduled their annual Men’s Mid Handicap Championship, for golfers between a 6 and 25 handicap, on August 7 and 8. The venue is Drumheller’s Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club.
   “Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club has been chosen by the Alberta Golf Association to host one of its provincial championships,” said Tom Zariski. “We’ve secured the championship here to see how things go.”
   The tournament is one of 14 held by the AGA. This will be the first time Drumheller had been chosen as host. Nearly 100 golfers are expected to participate.
   It is hoped the tournament will produce a considerable economic spin-off for the Valley.
   “It obviously helps the economics of Drumheller. It’s interesting to note that golf tourists spend more per capita than most other tourists,” said Zariski. “We will have people, between now and the tournament, coming to Drumheller to play on our golf course, which brings more people here.”
   The Dinosaur Trail course is one of the most unique in Alberta. To ease new golfers into the badlands, the order of the holes has been changed. Golfers will do five holes on the riverside front nine, then head to the back nine in the badlands, then finish off with four holes on the front nine.
   “Our back nine is quite unique with the badlands. It’s kind of a Jekyll and Hyde, course. The front nine is nice park setting and then you get up to the back nine and there are no trees and different terrain. It really creates a challenge for golfers,” said Scott Westman, general manager of the Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club. “Most people, even if their skill level isn’t the greatest, enjoy the challenge of the back nine, and the beauty and uniqueness of it.”
   If all goes well, more tournaments may choose Drumheller in the future.
   “It’s kind of a foot in the door. There are people from Alberta Golf who say ‘we will never have a tournament in Drumheller, that course is just too weird’. I’m trying to prove them wrong,” said Zariski. “We could conceivably get on the rotation for Alberta Golf, maybe even all of Canada, and have bigger, better, more important, and more attended tournaments in the future.”

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