Hat High football taking a competitive step up

After six straight years on top of the Rangeland Football Conference — and one without a champion due COVID19 — Medicine Hat High School will be shifting its focus to a higher level.

Head coach Quinn Skelton announced this week that his squad will be joining the Southern Alberta Division 1 Football League, which combines teams from three leagues to create a field of championship calibre programs.

“It’s an honour and I think it reflects on what we’ve been doing,” said Skelton, adding that players are thrilled. “Their eyes light up every time we’re talking to a kid here in the hallway and letting them know that things are moving forward. Come next fall when things are a bit rougher and for real, the smiles might not be quite as big, but right now the kids are very excited about it.”

The new league will feature Hat High, Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, Holy Trinity Academy, Catholic Central, Raymond, Okotoks and Foothills — all of whom boast provincial championships in their history.

It’ll mean a whole new level of competition and all the gruelling challenges that come with it, but incoming quarterback and safety Kaedan Buckler says he’s more than ready to answer the call when he enters as a Grade 10 next season.

“This is a huge opportunity for us to grow and just have that competition,” said Buckler, son of defensive coordinator Warren Buckler. “I’ve been around this team since before I could walk. I’ve come to practice, I’ve idolized these guys my entire life and now I get to be there with them and try to bring them to a championship.”

On top of spending the better part of a decade as a near-undefeated powerhouse in the RFC, Skelton says the timing is also ideal because Hat High will soon become a Tier 1 school based on student population.

“It’s exactly what we wanted, to be able to transition from a Tier 2 team to a Tier 1 team, and this competition is exactly that,” said Skelton. “It’s going to be some tough sledding, I think, for us. But competition-wise it’s going to be great. We’ll attract kids to our building and our program.”

Hat High will remain a member of the RFC for the 2021 season, but will take part in a series of exhibition games against their new opponents to fill out the schedule, with the plan of then moving into the new league full time.

“We’ve all got some responsibilities within the three leagues that are involved (RFC, Big Rock League and Southern Alberta High School Football League),” said Skelton. “This will give us flexibility to experiment with this Div 1, have everybody play everybody one time, and it also allows us to fulfil our league commitments.”

Even still, Skelton says the team — which is in the process of finding a new name — could remain in the RFC in some form for years to come through a new development-focused junior varsity squad, if numbers permit.

“If we can establish a JV league, or even if our JVs end up playing in the (RFC), it would just make them better,” said Skelton, adding the goal will be to grow the RFC to include teams beyond Medicine Hat and Brooks moving forward. “Teams around the southern Alberta area are probably interested in being involved with Rangeland in the future. I played in Rangeland, I coached here for 30 years, and I don’t want to just step away and leave Rangeland in the lurch, but we also know we need to move forward with our program and we’re going to try to fulfil our commitment with Rangeland as best we can.”