Sault resident Robin Price makes Team Ontario U18 football team

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Working and competing with like-minded people should be a positive experience for Robin Price.

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The local linebacker was recently selected to the roster of the U18 Team Ontario Red women’s tackle football team.

“It is an experience I didn’t think I would have when I started playing football,” Price said, admitting she is “very excited” for the opportunity. “It is much different than what I have been doing because I have never played football with girls. I have felt that I didn’t quite fit in, but now I am playing on a girls’ team and finding people who enjoy (the same thing I) do.” 

The tryout occurred in early May at the University of Waterloo football stadium. The announcement was made public three weeks ago on the Ontario Football Facebook page. Price will represent the province at the women’s national championship in Fredericton in July. 

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Price currently plays for the JV Sault Sabercats. The #40 in ‘Cats colours will also suit up for season two with the junior varsity Korah Colts this fall. 

“We had her as a Grade 9 and right off the hop, she is just a physical kid who doesn’t shy away from contact,” Colts junior varsity head coach Marco Bernabucci said. “She is a linebacker through and through. She finds the ball quickly and she has something you can’t always teach. Price does a great job of flowing to the football and making sure when she tackles that she tackles properly. She is a solid football player.” 

Price was confident she could make the squad because of her three seasons of experience playing with males. The 15-year-old played two seasons in the Sault Minor Football Association before her time with the Colts. 

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“Playing with boys has given me an advantage in learning how to play against stronger players, grow and adapt because I am a female,” Price said. 

“Normally, I would be surprised but she did not surprise me she made the team, to be honest with you,” Bernabucci added. “Her speed and knack for getting to the football quickly, you don’t see that in a typical Grade 9 kid too often.” 

Developing the ground game

As previously mentioned, Price started with SMFA in Grade 7 and enjoyed the physical aspects of the game so thoroughly she returned for her Grade 8 year. 

“I just wanted to try something new when I first joined football,” Price said, adding she played volleyball and basketball at Mountainview Public School in Goulais River prior to finding her passion for pigskin. “It took me a while to really get into it because I wasn’t used to it.” 

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The soon to be Grade 10 student recalled her first hit and how that turned her into a football fanatic. 

“The first game I played, when I got my first tackle, I started going and trying hard and it was great,” Price said. “It just felt good. I didn’t think, when I first joined, that I would be able to do it and once I was able to do it then I knew it was my thing.” 

“She never takes practice off,” Bernabucci said about Price’s dedication to the game. “When the season comes around, she puts football first. She is all business.” 

Price said SMFA was influential in developing her to a point where she is now listed as one of the province’s best. 

“I wouldn’t have been able to be where I am today without the different coaches and players who encouraged me to get out there and start playing,” Price said.  

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Price credited former SMFA coach Tim Boville for creating a positive and encouraging atmosphere. 

“If I didn’t have certain coaches, I would never be where I am because they really taught me that I could get involved and I that I didn’t have to be scared because I am a female,” Price said.  

Price has words of encouragement for other females who want to give football the ‘ol college try. 

“I have had young girls come up to me and say they want to (play football) and I just tell them to get out there, give it their best and enjoy it while they can,” Price said. 

Price will leave for team practices in Ottawa next month, prior to the tournament kicking off July 20 in New Brunswick. 

“It’s a remarkable thing what she did, making that team as a 15-year-old,” Bernabucci said. “Her work ethic, determination and the way she plays the game at speed speaks for itself.” 

On the bye

Price and the JV Sabercats are on a bye this weekend following a 24-7 loss to the Huronia Stallions last Saturday afternoon in Barrie.

After opening the season with three consecutive wins, the club has lost back-to-back games. On June 9 the Sabercats lost 19-16 to the York Lions.

The Lions and Stallions are tied for first place in the east division of the AA league, both teams undefeated at 5-0. The Quinte Skyhawks are alone in second with a 4-1 record. The Cats are third at 3-2.

The JV ‘Cats host the Skyhawks next Saturday at Superior Heights. Kick-off is 1 p.m.

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