The Okanagan Sun kicked off their spring training camp this weekend and head coach Shane Beatty will have his work cut out for him in the days and weeks ahead, tasked with the job of narrowing down the roster for the upcoming season.
More than 100 players filled the practise field adjacent to the Apple Bowl, and Beatty will have to get that number down, “Last year we kept seventy-five,” he said, “but I am hoping for a couple more this year, maybe seventy-eight.”
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Whoever the players are that get the opportunity to sport the new logo and uniforms this season, it is no secret that each and every one will be chomping at the bit with the hopes of winning it all.
“I’m excited to get it going, I want to get it started and get after that championship this year,” said third year running back Mikhail Maloff following Sunday’s scrimmage. “As a team I think we are more of a whole this year, we’ve got our program more down pat.”
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It seems that Maloff is not the only one who feels that way. The entire team has a positive mentality already well ingrained throughout the entire club, starting at the top. “I’m just excited to see the kids come together, to see the hard work pay off,” Beatty said. When asked what he was most surprised about performance-wise during the weekend he confidently admitted it was, “the secondary, and just how they came together and the continuity without even knowing each other, it’s nice to see," he said, heading into his second year as head coach of the Sun.
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As happy as Beatty is with his players, it would seem as though the feeling from them is quite mutual, “Shane’s an awesome guy, he knows is stuff and that’s what we need in this organization, someone who knows what they are doing,” Maloff said of his coach.
The Sun will run out onto the field at the Apple Bowl donning new uniforms and a winning attitude on Saturday July 27th for their first game of the regular season against the Chilliwack Huskers. Kick-off is at 7:00pm and tickets are available on the Okanagan Sun website.
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