The Estevan Minor Football's U14 Oilers have wrapped up their regular season, but the team isn't done on the field just yet. After winning their match last week against the Swift Current Steelers 52-0, the team finished with a 5-1 record, pushing the team to the top of the playoff bracket. Head Coach Chris Pfeifer says this is a first for the team.
"It's going to be really nice to have that week off to rest some battered players and, you know, just put some extra work in for two weeks of practice rather than just one. It'll be nice to add some new things and tweak some things that we've got going on and hopefully, we can come away with a huge win when we play."
The rest of the bracket has yet to be determined, so the Oilers are not sure who they'll be facing. Pfeifer noted that playoffs start this weekend, but his team won't be back on the field until October 19. He reflected on the team's dynamic and how they've progressed throughout the season.
"I've seen some insane amount of team growth, you know, even individual growth as well. When we started the season, we introduced a few plays to the offense. Now, by this time, we've been able to open up the playbook almost to whatever our hearts desire as coaches -- and that's a really nice thing to have."
Pfeifer and the rest of the coaching staff have an incredible amount of trust in the team, which the players have earned. "We have all these players out on the field where we don't have to worry about them knowing or not knowing what plays they're doing or what they're doing on specific plays. We can tell them once or twice and they'll say 'Yes, coach! I got it.' and they'll go out and they execute it and it's really nice to have that. It makes our job as coaches really really easy."
He expressed that he is proud of what the team has accomplished this year. "They've worked so hard throughout the entire year and now all of their hard work has been paying off and it's so great to see. You know, these kids, they care so much. They love this game so much and it's really refreshing."