KSU’s club football team is looking to build on its first year of existence, and despite last season’s win-loss record, this year’s squad has a lot going for it. The team is looking to further evolve and organize, and team president Daniel Starovasnik is optimistic about the team’s outlook for the new season.
“We’re going to have a full playbook, so we’re actually going to be running like an actual team should,” Starovasnik said. “We’re not going to have an ‘everybody playing every position’ concept like we had last year. We had receivers playing as corners, as well as punting and kicking blockers and returners. This year we’re looking to be more specified.”
Because they only dressed about 25 players per game last season, the team was forced to improvise, which led to many players starting at multiple positions.
Thankfully, this year the Owls plan to dress about 50 players per game. Head coach Joseph Courson sees the increase in numbers as an opportunity to have practices of a higher caliber, and with that, a team that is better ready to perform.
“When you have more players, you have a lot of things you can practice on,” Courson said. “The one-on-one training is kind of limited because you have certain people playing out of position. So hopefully with having more numbers, we can implement the type of offense and defense that we want to play out there and have guys fresh and ready to play in the fourth quarter.”
Another issue the Owls faced last season was the absence of a venue worthy of hosting football games. Their home turf was an 80-yard, recreational field with makeshift goalposts that had no bleachers for the fans. This season, the Owls hope to remedy this by playing just down the road at Sprayberry High School. The contract to play there isn’t exactly finalized yet, but team vice president Dominic Oates says that it’s essentially a done deal.
“We actually have the contract drawn up now,” Oates said. “We’re just trying to basically cross our T’s and dot our I’s at this point. It’s pretty much about 95 percent done.”
Oates believes that playing in an actual stadium that is suited for football will vastly improve the game day experience.
“I think what it’ll do for the fans, players, and everybody involved is that it gives a real sense of football,” Oates explained. “As opposed to just being at a practice field with some lines drawn up, you’re in a real stadium, you’ve got that atmosphere that a football stadium tends to bring to the game.”
With a club football team in place, some might wonder what role it can have in cultivating potential players for the future varsity team. Courson sees his team’s potential new function as a substantial reason why the team is expecting bigger numbers.
“I like how it’s going to bring a lot more kids that were maybe not interested in playing football to get out there and showcase their talents with us, and hopefully have an opportunity to transition into [Coach Bohannon’s] team,” Courson said.
“I think this year we’ve got more organization, we’ve got more interest and things seem to be falling into place,” Oates said. “We’re just energized this year. We feel like have a chance to make some noise in our conference and nationally.”
Coach Courson sees some room for improvement, but feels very strongly about his team’s chances.
“Playing football is not just a game, it takes a lot of study and a lot of hard work,” Courson said. “I think if everybody gels together and realizes the guy beside them is trying to achieve the same thing, which is to win ballgames, I think we’ll be great. I’m not disappointed in last year. Last year was the beginning. With any new program you start, it takes some time to get it off and running.”
The Owls will play their season opener Sept. 9 at home against Columbus State.