Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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We hope that the students who return to the sehool next year will enter into this game with wholehearted enthusiasm. From observations made this year we are sure that the six man game provirlefl a ehanee for many students to really play football. The skills of hloeking' anal taekling' are just as neeessary in the six man game, and of course, passing, eatehing, and kicking' are no less important. Players shoulcl he ahle with all these skills, to play the game sueeessfully anfl with satisfaetioii. t'onclition is imperative heeause eaeh of the players on the fielil must he ahle to move around quit-kly and anyone of them may become the hall earrier on very short notiee. So far as plays are eoneernefl these must he as earefully thought out as for the higger game. Six man foothall at l'ieke1'ing' r-an he a game wherein many students learn the t'unflamentals ot' foothall thoroughly. Anfl then, when age and size per'- mit, they will he reaily anal ahle eanrlitlates for the big teams which will eontinue to earry the Blue and Silver over the griclirons of many schools with success. Tu'en1y-eight

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from the grid up. In the past practically every student in the school has re- ceived coaching in football but the younger players have lacked the chance for game experience, so a plan that called for more game experience was what we were after. Six man football, played with full equipment. would permit us to get balanced teams within the school. The game is not so complicated because there are only half the number of players on the field at a time. The players get experience in the fundamental positions and of course handle the ball much more frequently. I It required a bit of selling to get the students to enter into the game with enthusiasm. Several of them felt that the game was inferior to the twelve man game, not requiring as much in the way of skill and strategy. The experiment was not c-ompletely successful this year. but we think that with the experience we gained we can make another season quite as satisfying for the players as the twelve man game could be. Three stuads. the meinhershiw ot' which was based on the intramural I I A 1 groups, were chosen. To each squad a coach was assigned. Each day practice periods were arranged. After due preparation ot' the players. a series of games was played. The skills taught, practised. and learned were put to the test of the game. Some of the ilavers made excellent lrofrress. and certainlv all ot' lg p ' . ?-N . them got a better idea of how the game is actually played. The only rule modifications used were those that concerned the number of players and the somewhat smaller field. Players wore complete uniforms. The tackling was real, not just touch tackling. Rules were called as they would be in a twelve man team game. In the beginning we had hoped that we would have six teams instead ol' three. A junior and senior series would have provided a lot more students with game experience and prepared them for another season when they would be older and bigger. Perhaps we will be able to set up the two series next year. Towards the end ol' the season Richmond Hill lligh School requested a game with their six man team. I-'rom the three squads we had at Pickering a team was made up of the better players and they practised for this extramural match. Greater interest developed as soon as it was known that we would be playing an- other school. In all probability more of the small high schools will he having six man football teams in the future. Most of them are unable to get enough players to run a twelve man team. For this reason we should not have too much trouble getting games with other schools. While our chief purpose in running such a game Within the school group is to develop the younger players for the junior and senior interschool teams, the six man games with other schools will give us a chance to prove how well we are getting our coaching done and also how well our students are learning the fundamentals of the game. Twenty-seven

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senior ootball HIS YEAR,S TEAM e-ould have played with distinction in the pre-torward-pass era. They liked doing all things the hard way, and the old 'two bueks and a kick' game would have been more to their liking than the modern aerial aifray. The forward pass bewildered them when they had to defend against. it. On the offense we considered the pass a desperate gamble at the best of times, and usually settled down to defensive work as soon as the ball was in the air. This was the story throughout two thirds of the season. ln that period, the only game we won was against a team whose passing, unbelievably, was no better than ours. Toward the elose we improved, and in our last game at Petei-borough-the best game we played, and against the best team-we threw pass for pass with them and completed an impressive number. But throughout most of the seas-on we lost in the air more than we gained on the ground. This was a heartbreaking experienee, and the team is to be congratulated for the grim determination with which they used to tight out every game. Against everything but the pass the team 's defensive work was good. Un the ground they c-ould mount a strong offensive, displaying some very promising ball Carriers and etfeetive line blocking. Time and again they moved the yard- stieks more frequently than their opponents only to lose the game. The weak- REAR Huw l,EF'l' TU RIGHT: Dun Tlnlnzlris. Cltllck flflfzrzls. George BGWIIIFSS, Iran Melzrik. lliclf Bunce, Saul Lubarslry, Lorne Mould. Run llmplirey. CENTRE Row: Mr. Rourlre. Art Dobson. Terry Sumner. Bill Balfes. Ben uvlllilllkll Scotty Mrlnloslt. .-lrnzrzml fflmput. Bill Rifhurzlsun. BKIFIIP-I Jllt'A'b0ll ll'UllClli. FRONT Row: Ted Cannon lmanugerl, .4le.x Bull. Teil Lczwrerzre. ll.-e LUIITCI, Russ Dabell tcaptainj, Hub Ba1'nbr1'dge, Howie Reynolds. Gerrit WVITSCIVI. Bill Hyslup. Twerzly'-niri e