Grade seven, eight players to hit gridiron next month

For the first time since the early 1970s, organized football will return to Fort Frances for players in grades seven and eight starting with a spring camp next month.
The non-contact, no-equipment practices–slated for June 5-6 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Westfort–will see the players put through drills to learn the skills and help their conditioning.
The ‘C’ team will be under the direction of head coach Rob Tysz, who held the same position last year with the Muskie ‘B’ program. He will be helped on the sidelines by Mike Tullio, Lew Kempf, Steve Maki, and Jim York.
“The intent is to open [the game] up to the younger players,” said Tysz. “We plan to make [the program] a big success by splitting up the players to make a more effective program to give players more playing time.”
The new team will play against ones from International Falls, Baudette, Warroad, Roseau, and Cook.
While player development will be the optimum goal of this program (to help them make the transition to the junior and senior football teams down the road), it’s still uncertain if the ‘C’ team it fall under the Muskie program.
“We still don’t know if it will fall under the school board and we don’t know if we will have access to grant money because it’s an election year,” said Bob Swing, head coach of the Muskie senior football team.
He noted the Muskie Touchdown Club already has committed to putting money up front to buy the necessary equipment to get the ‘C’ team started.