THINGS TO KNOW AS HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS SEASON GETS UNDERWAY

A busy high school fall sports schedule is set to begin Thursday in Saskatoon, writes Don Rice. Here are five things you should know as local athletes hit the fields and courts.

1. Multiple Football Champs Not one, but four champions will be crowned in football at the end of the season. The best 3A and 4A teams will compete for their respective city championships. The next four teams, regardless of school size, will compete for the Division 2 championship while the remaining teams will fight it out for the Division 3 title. This is the third straight year Saskatoon high schools have run with this format; they feel it helps create close and meaningful games throughout the season.

2. Fresh Faces For the first time, football will feature a Saskatoon versus Warman rivalry. The Warman Wolverines join the league and will face the defending 3A champion Bishop Mahoney Saints in the league-opening game Thursday at 3 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

In Thursday’s other openingday contests at SMF Field, Walter Murray hosts P.A. Carlton at 5:15 p.m., and Marion Graham takes on Holy Cross at 7:30 p.m.

3. Defending Their Titles The reigning football city champions are the six-time defending Holy Cross Crusaders (4A) and Bishop Mahoney Saints (3A), who have won six of the past seven city titles.

In 11-player 3A soccer, the Centennial girls are two-time champions, and Evan Hardy won last year’s boy’s side. In 2A, where city championships are not contested, Bishop Mahoney has won three straight provincial titles.

Holy Cross is the two-time defending girls’ 5A volleyball champions and St. Joseph won last year’s 5A boys’ championship. Walter Murray is the defending cross country team champions.

4. New Meet On Tap A new cross-country event debuts this year. Hosted by the Bethlehem Collegiate Stars on Sept. 19, the meet is appropriately called the Beth Star Trek. It is meant to encourage students who don’t normally run to compete in cross country, particularly those from the host school and neighbouring Tommy Douglas Collegiate.

5. On Your Mark, Get Set … Six high school senior sports schedules begin early in the fall with football first today, followed by cross country on Friday. Boys’ soccer begins on Monday, with girls’ soccer and boys’ and girls’ volleyball action all beginning on Tuesday.