Five teams with the Sask Selects Football program, with over 200 kids, will be heading down to San Antonio in a couple of weeks for an annual tournament.

The 10U, 12U, 13U, 14U and Varsity teams will travel down to San Antonio for the tournament.

The Yara Centre is the host for the program's on-field training for players from across the province and they practice every second weekend.

A lot of training and preparation has gone into this trip, according to Sask Selects Program director Zeljko Stefanovic.

“They get seven hours every second weekend of actual on-field training,” Stefanovic said. “The coaches focus a lot of their effort on fundamental skill development. This part of the season now where we’re getting closer to leaving, we’ve already implemented our offense and we’re working on special teams. Because once we get to San Antonio, it’s NCAA rules.”

That means four downs and a 100-yard field, but also no movement prior to the snap, the neutral zone being the length of the football, one fewer player on the field, and a few other minor things.

Stefanovic said there are so many teams and people, they won't all fit into one hotel.

“This year because we have five teams, we have more coaches,” he said. “I think we have almost 40 coaches that are part of the program. We have a medical crew that’s second to none, we have a doctor on our sidelines the whole time. And then our support staff that’s upstairs. It’s kind of crazy. There’s probably going to be close to 1,000 people traveling when we do go.

There are 30 Moose Jaw families heading to Texas. The Sask Selects' first games are February 21.

“We have a Friday night lights game, for our 14U and Varsity team,” he said. They will take on a team from Corpus Christi and another from California.

“This is going to be our third year in a row against California with our varsity team.”

The Thursday before the tournament, Stefanovic said the road between the hotels will be closed off for a huge Texas-style barbecue.

The tournament goes all day Saturday and well into Sunday. “There’s a lot of football in a short period of time, so it should be a lot of fun.