CHILLIWACK TIMES FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2010 A15
Sports
Giants taking road trip to Nebraska BY TYLER OLSEN tolsen@chilliwacktimes.com
A
Once-in-a-lifetime experience for football players
pair of Chilliwack onships” and invited some of football teams are the best minor football—or h e a d e d t o t h e i r “Pop Warner,” in local parlansport’sheartlandlater ce—teams. “The teams [Cisar] has invithis summer to play against some of the best minor foo- ted are all top-tier Pop Warner tball clubs in the United Sta- football teams—they would have all won their respective tes. The Chilliwack Giants’ red leagues,” said Smith. “We’re and blue peewee squads will not exactly in that boat. We travel to Nebraska in late- won our league two years August to play against teams ago and were very good last from across the American year so we’re a very competitive team but I think it’ll be an Midwest. eye-opener The trip for our kids is the brain“I’m like a kid too. I’m to play thochild of L a w re n c e so excited to go down se kids from Nebraska.” Smith, the there and be in the Smith and Giants blue heartland of football. reds coach coach, with Sean Roach an assist to It’s like a Disneyland think their a book by for me.” teams will Ne b r a s k a put up a minor fooLawrence Smith good fight tball coach and learn Dave Cisar. plenty from Last year, Smith read that Cisar’s theory playing some of the United of exhibition games is “any States’ best young players. “I think that’s going to be team, any time, any place,” very good for the kids to see and thought the obvious: “I sent him an e-mail that how good they can be,” said said, ‘Do you want to play a Roach. More importantly, though, team from Canada?’” Smith told the Times. “He said, ‘that the coaches say the 10-andwould be great,’ and now 11-year-old kids will rememwe’ve built a tournament out ber the trip for the rest of their lives. of it.” “I know from all the sports Cisar has now branded that tournament “The North I played as a kid, I don’t American Football Champi- remember the third game of
a regular season when I was 11 years old but I remember the special tournaments that we went to and the bonding that I did with my teammates at the time and those are the experiences that kids have for the rest of their lives,” said Roach In addition to the games, the players will watch a University of Nebraska Cornhus-
kers football practice, meet legendary ‘Huskers coach Tom Osborne, and run through the tunnel and onto the field of 81,000-seat Memorial Stadium. There will be haywagon rides, barbecues and trips to Omaha and a water park. Blue Giants right tackle Jacob Troyan told the Times that he and his teammates are “extremely excited” for the
trip. “It’s going to be a once-ina-lifetime exprience,” said Troyan, who will be making the trip with his mother. He and his teammates will be practising for the next several weeks to gear up for the competition. “I’m positive they’re pretty good,” he said. “They’re hard teams to face.”
Troyan is also looking forward to watching the Cornhuskers practice, even if he doesn’t know too much about the team. Smith says Troyan and his teammates will have their eyes opened when they see Memorial Stadium and the popularity of the Cornhuskers. “They won’t have seen anything like that here.” See GIANTS, Page 20
Classic Car Show Sunday, July 18 ~ 9am-4pm
1957 Chevrolet Belair Convertible owned by B. Chudyk
Minter Gardens & The Fraser Valley British Motor Club invite you to our 8th Annual Classic Car Show!
Over 100 Mint Condition Classic Cars Live Musical Entertainment by Dixie 9 People’s Choice Voting & More! Tyler Olsen/TIMES
Chilliwack Giants blue tackle Jacob Troyan is looking forward to a trip to Nebraska next month with his teammates for a pair of games in football’s heartland.
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