ON DECK: Football fever is already in the air

Even though the next football season is more than three months away, things are already buzzing around Superior.

Superior High School football coach Bob DeMeyer met with students last week at the Superior Middle School and 101 eighth-graders attended a meeting for those interested in playing freshmen football in the fall.

Another 100 sixth and seventh- graders also showed interest in playing in the Spartan Youth Football League.

"Even though those are great numbers, we want to double it in the future," DeMeyer said. "That's my No. 1 concern, getting more kids excited about football at the middle school level."

In an attempt to get younger kids interested in football, DeMeyer and Pony League Commissioner Jerry Lozon changed the grades for the Pony League.

That league used to be for kids in grades 6-8. But starting this fall, sixth graders will now be part of the SYFL, which will have two divisions, one for third and fourth graders and another for fifth and sixth graders.

"I believe our youth program is really going to take off. We're really excited about that," DeMeyer said. "The No. 1 reason for the change, is we don't want sixth-graders to be put into situations where they're playing against much bigger and more physically mature eighth-graders and risking getting hurt.

"We also want the sixth-graders to be more involved and have an opportunity to play more. Other than just a 10-play scrimmage at half time, now they're going to play a complete game on a full-length field."

DeMeyer is also working on getting a team in the Four Corners School area and getting a team back at Wade Bowl (downtown and North End area).

"They're a lot of kids out there (Four Corners) that don't play because of transportation issues or whatever," DeMeyer said. "This way they can practice out there and the only time they'd have to come to town would be to play games on Saturdays.

"We also want to get the Wade Bowl team back. There's a lot of kids in those neighborhoods and we have to get them back out for football. For whatever reason, Wade Bowl folded a couple of years ago, so we need to get a coach right away and start working on getting kids to play for them."

Sign-ups for both the SYFL and Pony League runs from 6-7 p.m. tonight through Wednesday in the Superior High School cafeteria.

"For Pony League, we're just signing up," Superior football coach Bob DeMeyer said. "We're not registering or weighing in, we're just trying to get to know what kind of numbers we have in each area so we can determine if it's feasible to add teams at Four Corners or Wade Bowl.

"We also want to find out if we need to move some kids around so there's not 15 kids on one team and 40 on another."

If Four Corners and Wade Bowl can be added, that would bring the total of teams in Superior to seven, making the Pony League a nine-team league with two Northwestern teams. Pony League registration dates will be determined at the May 31 board meeting.

As for the SYFL, the cost of $100 includes all pads and players get to keep their jerseys. Players will be able to recover $50 through fundraising.

Games and practices will be on Saturdays starting in August. Equipment will be handed out in August. Dates will be made available at registration.

The SYFL is a full contact football league for youth in grades 3-4 and 5-6. Coaches include an adult volunteer and two Superior High School Spartan players for each team.

For more information about the SYFL call Rob Scott, (218) 591-1739. He can also be reached by e-mail at robert.scott@superior.k12.wi.us .

"Just the fact that 100 kids showed up shows that people are excited about football," DeMeyer said. "The sixth-graders are going to be much better off. They're going to get more instruction, more quality playing time and our numbers are going to go up."

College bound

Max Phillips and Addison Griffin, both members of this year's SHS football team, will continue playing football at the collegiate level this fall. Phillips is walking on as an inside linebacker at Minnesota Duluth, and Griffin, a running back, will attend UW-River Falls.

"Max's excited about going over to UMD," DeMeyer said. "He's been in the weight room, running, doing everything he needs to do to prepare himself to play.

"He's excited about it and he's very optimistic about his future, as are the UMD coaches."

Griffin will play football and run track at UWRF.

"River Falls is changing their offensive scheme next year and it's going to fit what Addison does well," DeMeyer, adding that Mike VanMassenhove may also pursue college football but may wait until 2008 when the St. Scholastica program gets up and running.

Former Spartan Geoff Torzewski was the first recruit for the new St. Scholastica team.

Spartan golf camp

The Superior Spartan Golf Camp will run from June 25-29 at the Nemadji Golf Course.

The cost is $45 per golfer with session No. 1 (grades 5-8) running from 9 a.m. to noon and Session No. 2 (grades 9-12) meeting from noon to 3 p.m.

Instruction will be provided by Dan Schulz (SHS girls golf coach), members of Nemadji golf staff and past members of boys and girls Spartan golf teams.

Daily instruction includes: full swing, chipping, pitching, putting and on-course instruction. The camp will conclude Friday with a 9-hole golf tournament.

Gift certificates will be awarded to winners of Friday's chipping, putting and driving contests and much more.

Participants should register according to what grade they will be entering in the fall of the 2007-08 school year. Those interested must register by Friday, June 16 and make checks payable to Dan Schulz. Registrations should be mailed to Superior Senior High School, Dan Schulz, 2600 Catlin Ave., Superior, WI, 54880.

For more information, contact Schulz at 394-7845 or e-mail at daschulz@charter.net .

Strength and

conditioning camp

The Spartan Strength, Speed and Conditioning Camp at SHS runs from June 18 to July 27. First session is from 8 to 10 a.m. for freshmen and sophomores and 10 a.m. to noon for juniors and seniors.

"We encourage anyone and everyone to come out and be part of the camp," DeMeyer said. "Not just athletes, but especially athletes if they want to prepare themselves in their sport. We understand there's a lot of stuff going on during the summer, but if the kids can get here just one or two days a week, we encourage it."

Forms will be available at SHS and SMS for incoming freshmen and a meeting will be held at SMS at a later date.

Running the camp along with DeMeyer are boys hockey coach Jason Kalin and track coach Kris Leopold.

"The kids are getting bigger, faster and stronger," DeMeyer said. "It's unbelievable the results that we're getting."

Ken Olson is the sports editor of The Daily Telegram. Call him at (715) 395-5023 or e-mail kolson@superiortelegram.com