The Sask Selects Football program competed in their second annual Battle of the Prairies tournament, this past weekend. 

The tournament consisted of 4 organizations throughout Western Canada: The Sask Selects, Manitoba Selects, Alberta Selects, and Golden Bear Selects, based out of Alberta. 

Each organization had multiple teams spread out amongst five different age divisions, making a total of 19 teams. 

The weekend went more than well for Sask, as three out of five of the competing divisions walked away with the gold against the Alberta Selects. 

U11 Sask shut out Alberta, 38-0, U14 beat Alberta, 40-8, and the Varsity division won their championship, 28-0. 

“This weekend was a fantastic way of showcasing the skills that the players learn over the course of their winter training season,” says Sask Selects Director of Operations, Zeljko Stefanovic (Coach Z). “[Yara Centre] has been our home for 11 years now, from November until February. Pretty much every weekend is wall-to-wall football... They’re great hosts, and the City of Moose Jaw is phenomenal, the way they have opened their doors to us. We are from Moose Jaw, so it is home for us. We certainly wouldn’t dream of having it anywhere else. It’s a fun place to be.” 

The Battle of the Prairies tournament also featured the first-ever ‘coaches challenge via instant replay booth’ that the province has seen in football. The screen was 10 ft by 20 ft long. 

Every single game was streamed on YouTube from 8 am Friday, until 6:30 pm on Sunday. 

“We had well over 20,000 unique visitors watch the stream over the 3-day period. There was a lot of interest, a lot of eyes on Moose Jaw and our community, and a lot of eyes on the Yara Centre. So, it certainly opened up a lot of eyes to this small community of Moose Jaw, which was super encouraging to us and super positive,” Stefanovic added. 

Many of the viewers were University, College, and Junior football recruits, from all over North America. 

“Every single University in Canada was either at the Yara or watching it online. And then we had 31 Division 1 and 2 Universities watching in the U.S.” 

Stefanovic talked about how the Selects program has aided players in their recruitment processes. 

“We have four players that have been part of our program playing in the NCAA, we have a ton of players playing in Canadian University, and a ton of players in Junior football... Saskatchewan has become the recruiting hub for football in Canada. From the feedback that we’ve gotten this weekend from all of the coaches that were here, they’re looking north to recruit out of Canada, and this program has kind of become the attraction for that.” 

The Selects program also helps players from rural communities get recruited. 

“We have kids from all over the province. Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, North Battleford. We have kids that travel from as far away as Creighton, Saskatchewan, to be part of our program, which I think is about 8 hours away... That’s one of the things that’s really appealing... To have all those small-town kids come and learn fundamental skills throughout the winter.” 

A lot of rural players play with six or nine-man rules, which is not typical for College and University leagues. The Selects program allows those players to play on a full 11 or 12-man team in front of recruits. 

The Selects also only practice on weekends, so players can make their commute without missing any school. 

The players have been practicing every weekend since November, in preparation for their international tournament in San Antonio, Texas, in February. 

“It’s kind of a tune-up for our trip to San Antonio," added Stefanovic. "All of the teams that were here will take part in the ‘Border Wars’ tournament that’s going to be held at the end of February in San Antonio, Texas. So, there’s a lot of people getting ready to travel and take on some American teams.”