Airdrie Atom Football sees another year of development

With all the football seasons in Airdrie officially over, the Airdrie Atom Storm also had a very successful year.

For Atom football, it's a little different compared to PeeWee, Bantom or high school football. They play with 10 players on each side of the ball, the coaches are the referees and they run five plays of offence before switching and playing five plays of defence. The ball always starts on the 40-yard line as well.

Tyrell Rohl, the Head Coach of the Atom team is proud of how the team performed this year.

"We treat our nine and 10-year-olds no different than we treat our 13,14,15, and 16-year-old athletes. We coach them the same way; we expect them to execute the playbook and understand concepts the same way."

They don't keep scores in the game, but of course, with the nine and 10-year-olds being very competitive, they keep score, and according to Rohl, the Atom team has not lost a game since 2017.

Rohl stated Atom is a great place for these young athletes to learn how to play the game.

"We just turn them into tackle football players and continue their progression. If you want to compete at a high level, Atom football is where it's at. Those kids at that age are the easiest to mould and teach new tricks and skills to."

Rohl, also the Head Coach of the Airdrie PeeWee Storm recently won the Tier One Calgary City Championship and then went on to beat the other Division One League Champions, the Red Deer Scotia Bucks 88-0.

24 players from that PeeWee team will be moving up to Bantom, and 24 players from this Atom team will be moving up to that PeeWee team.

"I honestly feel like this next group of kids can potentially outdo what these guys just did this year and maybe go back to back."

According to Rohl, the Storm finished the season with an 8-0 record.

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