THUNDER BAY -- Justin Kundrat wasn’t sure he’d get on the gridiron in 2016.
Arriving at school last month, Kundrat and the rest of the Superior Collegiate Gryphons had every reason to believe they’d be football free this fall, after the school cancelled both the junior and senior program because they couldn’t find enough players.
It was devastating, Kundrat said.
But the anguish didn’t last long.
Players – with the support of the team’s coaching staff – at Hammarskjold High School unanimously voted to invite the displaced players from their north-side rivals to join them on a field, a unified team of two schools thought a certainty to merge in September 2017.
The decision came with a price.
The Vikings had to forgo the right to compete at the OFSAA championship, the victims of a rule aimed at preventing teams in southern Ontario from stacking their roster with temporary transplants.
“I was totally bummed out when our coach said we couldn’t have a team,” said Kundrat, an outside linebacker with the Gryphons last season.
“He said we could maybe go to Hammarskjold and I was so happy. Everyone was super accepting and super nice on the team.”
The 16 students still attend Superior Collegiate, which earlier this week earned a reprieve from the public board trustees who voted to keep the school open rather than turn it into a super-elementary school.
As a compromise, the Gryphons players – 10 on the senior team and six on the junior squad – still wear the baby blue helmets of their school, donning the red and gold uniforms of the Vikings.
It’s a small community, but Kundrat said players on both teams have grown up competing with and against each other in minor football.
“I love Superior … the helmet, the colours,” he said. “I was really happy when the coach told us we could wear the blue still. And everyone has a blue armband on their left arm as well.”
Vikings receiver Zach Hynna said there was no hesitation on the part of Hammarskjold players when the opportunity arose to join forces with the Gryphons, whose senior team had won just once in 28 previous outings and sat out 2014 for similar reasons. The junior team had a single win in its past 15 starts, not fielding a squad in 2013 or 2014.
“I just thought about the players because most of these players I’ve played against in minor football and summer football. I even went to school with some of them in elementary school,” Hynna said.
“From my love of the sport, that would just be disappointing if my head coach came up to me and said I wouldn’t be able to play football this season because my school couldn’t support a team because there wasn’t enough players. Why would we think negatively of (their) team just because they want to join our force just to be able to have a season?”
The new-look senior Vikings have struggled on the field, dropping their first two decisions at the senior level. The junior squad is s a different story, looking strong with two straight wins to start the 2016 campaign.
But it was never about wins or losses, said senior varsity coach Mike Judge.
It was just a matter of make sure everyone had a place to play.
“It’s about the kids, it’s not about the adults,” Judge said,
“We were on the phone right away with the extra-curricular co-ordinator with SSSAA saying we’re all in favour of letting the kids play here and let’s get creative and find a solution.”
