Spartan football celebrating 50 years of toughness
Wed Sep 19 2007
By Allan Besson, Winnipeg Free Press
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BACK in the 1960s and early '70s the Sisler Spartans employed a little gamesmanship during their pre-game warm-up. Call it the circle of terror. It worked wonders for the Spartans.
"I thought that up," said Frank Bryan, who coached the Spartans through those years, winning five of Sisler's eight Winnipeg High School Football League championships in 1963, '65, '70, '71 and '79.
"What we used to do," recalled Bryan, "was wait until the other team was doing its calisthenics. Then I would send my guys out and they'd run right by the other team, and I'd tell them, 'listen boys, run heavy.' "
Spartans wearing black from head to toe, like an army of Darth Vaders, then formed a circle and took turns running at each other. The hits could be heard all over the field. "It was my little psychology," chuckled Bryan, "but it really worked. My boys were ready; they were frothing. Sometimes when we'd kick off, the other team didn't want to touch the ball."
On Friday, Bryan will be back on the sidelines when the Spartans celebrate their 50th anniversary in the WHSFL. The homecoming begins at 3 p.m. when the Spartans No. 2 team plays the Garden City Fighting Gophers. In the main event, the defending league champion St. Paul's Crusaders play the Spartans No. 1 squad.
A lot of footballs have gone through the uprights since Bryan's days, but one thing hasn't changed -- the Spartans are still big and tough, perennial contenders.
These days the Spartans, like St. Paul's and Oak Park Raiders, dress two teams in the 25-team league.
"To stay competitive we have to have a second team, where the younger players would get a chance to play and grow into the game," said current head coach Rick Hudson. "If it was just (grade) 11s and 12s playing, we'd be dead on the vine in two or three years. It's a lot of work, but works for us."
For the most part, that Sisler toughness is still a trademark in the north end. "Winning breeds that sense of toughness," said Hudson. "Kids only want to be a winner."
The all-new Spartans Football Hall of Fame will be opened Friday, with the introduction of its members at half-time in the game against St. Paul's. Following the Spartans (2) vs. Garden City game, a friendly alumni game will pit a team from the '80s against a team from the '90s.
Bryan, who also played one year for the Spartans in 1957, has a hard time singling out one team as the best from his many championship squads. "Every team is special and different," he sighed. "I was really tough on them all. I put them through a lot, but you know, they took it and that was the main thing.
"I couldn't pick one team... except, it was fun winning that first championship in 1963."
Sisler's hall of fame
Nominees to be inducted Friday into the Spartans Football Hall of Fame during half-time of their Winnipeg High School Football League homecoming game against the St. Paul's Crusaders (1) beginning at 5:15 p.m:
Players: Jerry Kozak, 1963: Wayne Chernicki, 1965; Mike Kashtey, 1972; Gary Bohonas, 1970; Barry Melnyk, 1971; Doug Prokipchuk, 1975; David Kraemer, 1978; Adam Eckert, 1996; Darwin Thompson, 1996; Tom Hrechkosy, 1980; Mark McLaughlin, 1983; Paul Yatkowski, 1987; Corey Zankowski, 1987; Bob Rabichuk, 1992; David La, 1999; Lorne Plante, 2001,
Coaches: Frank Bryan; Rick Hudson.
Spartan championship years: 1963, 1965, 1970, 1971, 1979, 1984, 1995, 1996