St. Regis held a sports meeting on August 8 for volleyball and football. Practice started last week and will be Monday through Saturday at 7 to 9 a.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. until the 20th. After that, there will be just evening practice. Once school starts, it will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Head football coach, Jesse Allan, said they have nine boys out for six-man football. The team consists of one senior, three juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. The quarter-back will be returning sophomore, Brock Cantrell-Field.

The team looks better this year than last year, said Allan, since they have several returning players. The new assistant coach is Nate Williams, along with Junior High assistant coach, Todd Fisher. The new Junior High coach is Tim Yeagher, from Columbus, MT. He is the new sixth grade teacher at St. Regis.

Allan also spearheaded the charge to change junior high flag football to tackle football. Several meetings were held over the past six months to get public input on the change. The decision to move to tackle was approved by the school board on August 10.

The reasons for the change included the need to build up the high school program, as well as for safety reasons. He feels students entering the varsity level with no prior tackling experience are at risk for injury. He also wants players to have time to get used to wearing helmets and pads before their first varsity game.

Concerns over tackle football at this age are injuries, including concussions and the impact on young, developing brains. Also, at this period in a player’s growth, there can be large differences in size and weight. Allan explained that at bigger schools, size and weight restrictions can be applied. But these options are not available at the smaller schools where student numbers are limited.

However, he said that by playing tackle at the junior high level, athletes learn proper technique. With this experience, when they step onto the field as a freshman playing varsity ball, they are better prepared.

“Because we don’t have very many players, our freshman are up against juniors and seniors who have three and four years of experience,” he said. “By playing tackle in junior high, they have more experience and have learned proper technique. Along with how to move in pads.”

He said that since flag football is relatively new, there aren’t a lot of statistics about its overall effectiveness. However, stats do show that one or two concussions don’t have long-term detrimental consequences. Whereas repetitive concussions can result in permanent brain damage.

Allan also sees concern over flag football, “these players are going out onto the field without helmets, pads or mouth guards. There are also no size restrictions.” Though it’s not designed to be rough game, he said he has seen some pretty rough play.

St. Regis will probably not see a change in enrollment over the next several years. The male, female ratio is approximately 65 to 35, with very few boys participating in sports. However, as a new coach, Allan is hoping to improve the program and get more athletes involved in the sport.

No games have been scheduled for the junior high team. Allan said they will wait and see how practices look to determine when the players will be ready for games. The first varsity football game is scheduled for September 2 at home against Mullan at 7 p.m. Volleyball’s first home games will be held on September 1 against Hot Springs at 5:30 and 7 p.m. There will also be a volleyball tournament in Drummond on August 27.