Last Saturday's junior bantam football game between the Cowichan Bulldogs and Ladysmith Steelers almost didn't happen. Come game time, the Steelers had just eight players at the field, so the Bulldogs loaned them a player and the teams played nine-man ball.
Although the game went down as a forfeit by Ladysmith, Cowichan head coach Tim Maertz was still pleased that the teams played at all.
"I want to give Ladysmith credit," he said. "They are a small organization, and they have a three-year plan to bring back football to the area and make it stronger than ever. They have brand new facilities, that include a turf field, and plans for baseball fields; essentially something similar to the Cowichan Sportsplex."
The Bulldogs used the game as an opportunity to give the ball to players who don't usually get to carry it, and let them try out a new aspect of the sport.
"Dylan Taylor, Hudson Copley-Spencer, and Nicholas Young all got turns running the ball, with Nicholas Young scoring his first ever touchdown of the season," Maertz reported. "He was very proud, and his first words to me when I asked how it felt were, 'My dad had better gotten that on video.' Turns out dad did."
The bantam Bulldogs played on the road against Victoria last weekend, losing by a score of 48-7. All three Cowichan teams are on the road this weekend, the junior bantams playing in Nanaimo, the bantams in Langley, and the midgets at North Surrey.