University Rams season over before it began

Players, coach look forward to 2021, hope U Sports extends age cap for eligibility

The last thing Sawyer Buettner wanted was another delay-ofgame penalty.

The 23-year-old quarterback had been eagerly anticipating his return after a concussion in the 2019 season opener with the University of Ottawa Gee- Gees forced him to miss the remainder of the campaign.

Buettner’s anticipation grew in the off-season when he left Ottawa and headed home to join the University of Regina Rams.

Unfortunately, neither team will be in action this season after it was announced Monday that the 2020 football schedule has been cancelled due to COVID-19.

“It’s basically two full football seasons that I’ve missed out on now, which is tough,” Buettner said from his home in Moose Jaw.

“I wasn’t able to play last year, but I was still around the guys and helping out at practice every day. (It was nice) just for the atmosphere and being around the team. That’s what I enjoy the most about football. Not being able to have that this season will suck. It’ll be the first time since I was six years old that I won’t be on the football field in the fall.”

The finality of that revelation hit hard, but Buettner wasn’t totally surprised, either.

“When our spring camp got cancelled and then we got the news that classes would be online for the fall, I kind of figured, how can you have football or sports (in general) when you don’t have any students on campus?” he said. “Then we got word that they had proposed this new five-game schedule. I was a little bit skeptical, but it sounded like that was going to happen. (When the plan changed) I was obviously disappointed, but what can you do? You just have to focus on 2021 and hope for the best.”

One piece of good news came Monday when athletes learned that a cancelled season wouldn’t cost them a year of eligibility.

Buettner spent two seasons with Ottawa after three with the PFC’S Regina Thunder. He has two years of eligibility remaining but is approaching next season like it could be his last due to an age cap in university football.

The current rule states that a player is ineligible if he turns 25 before Sept. 1.

“Hopefully U Sports does the right thing,” Buettner said. “I know we’re all pushing for that but we just have to wait and see.

“(This situation) is something we can’t control. Nobody predicated a global pandemic. If you would have told me this a year ago I would have said you’re nuts. It sounds like a bad science-fiction movie or something. I think (changing the rule) is the only fair thing to do.”

Buettner added that he feels fortunate to have at least one season left, but that’s not necessarily the case for a handful of Rams teammates who are up against the age cap heading into their fifth year.

Rams linebacker Robbie Lowes is one of them.

“The logical outcome would be to extend the age cap for a year, let us go out on our own terms,” said Lowes. “The uncertainty is making me uneasy, along with other guys. I was at our practice field (Monday) and it did cross my mind, am I ever going to put the Rams uniform on again? That’s kind of a tough reality.”

It’s one that Rams interim head coach Mark Mcconkey hopes to avoid.

“There’d be nothing worse than being told you’re done football after your fourth year when you think you have one more,” he said. “I know (the administrators) are working very hard to get those answers and to do it properly with the student-athletes’ interest a first priority. That’s something they pride themselves on at the U Sports level. I’m just hoping they make the right decision and they can lift the age-cap rule for one year for those older guys.”

Lowes does too.

“I do respect the tough decisions that they have to make,” he added. “But I feel like this is one where everyone can kind of win and hopefully we can have a special season in 2021.”

As for 2020, Lowes said the team was eager to “rally behind” Mcconkey following his promotion to replace Steve Bryce, who stepped down in the off-season.

Lowes called it “a shame” to see the hard work of the coaching staff go to waste, but Mcconkey feels the same way about the players.

“Right away I started thinking about the 100 guys we have in the locker-room,” said the interim head coach.

“I’m just frustrated for them because I know how hard they work. We’re on a good trajectory as far as the Rams program and I was excited to see what we could do (this) year.”