The Yorkton Regional High School Senior Football Raiders kicked off their fall camp with a fitness test last Friday.

As Head Coach Roby Sharpe details, time is of the essence as the team prepares for it’s first exhibition game.

“Basically it’s a kickoff to our season, we’ve got an exhibition game a week from today so it gives us seven days to get ready for that.”

Given the difficulty of the Raiders competition in the Regina Intercollegiate Football League, “Arguably the best high school football league in the country,” Sharpe adds, the Coach knows how important it is to get his team ready for the season.

“Obviously we play in a very tough league. We’re a fairly young team this year. But we’ve got good young players,” Sharpe says, after a day of observing his new recruits.

The turnout for the first day was about what can be expected after a summer off. For those that did show up, the training session consisted of weightlifting and the all-important one-mile run.

“You can tell who’s been doing some running and who’s been getting in shape,” Sharpe points out.

Being in shape is critical to being competitive, Sharpe maintains, particularly when games are being played in the heat and other adverse conditions.

“We’ve got to get in shape, that’s the key to football is being in good shape. That prevents more injuries.”