Atom Football League Coming to Bonnyville

Bonnyville is starting an atom football league for kids aged 7-10. The flag football league will operate for six Saturday’s in the fall, is no-contact, and open to both boys and girls. There will be minimum equipment required, just shorts and cleats. Registration is expected to cost between $50-60, and volunteer coaches will most likely be needed.

Coach Robbie Cole, said his son’s enthuasism for football is one of the main reasons the league is starting up.

“My little boy is seven and he’s been bugging me for a couple years to get into football,” said Cole.

“And I’ve been telling him that he has to be ten before he plays with the Renegades. I get the same sob story every time, well maybe you can practice but can’t play, and then he says ‘Why would I want to practice if I can’t play?’ So we were at our AGM for our bantam program and Lloyd was talking about their atom football. It’s a flag league. So I went ahead and talked to our friends at Overdrive Heavyduty Services and they agreed to pay for our shirts and start-up costs.”

By starting the kids in football sooner, in a contact-free environment, it could help them learn the game quicker. And eventually help the Bonnyville Bandits and Voyageurs too.

“They’ll get the idea of what football is about: throwing, running, the routes, stuff like that, at a younger age so that when they get into the tackle football in peewee they know what they’re doing,” said Cole.

“The last ten years has been leaps and bounds since we’ve gotten a bantam program, it’s been nonstop. There’s been some rough years but since then the bantam program has being quite well.”

For those interested you can text Robbie Cole at 780-826-0075. He anticipates reigstration will happen around August 15.