Are you ready for some football, eh? The St. Thomas football team is preparing for a road trip this May to play a club team in Winnipeg, Canada.

All Tommie sports teams get the opportunity to go on a “foreign tour” every three years, according to coach Glenn Caruso. The football team also spent its 2009 “foreign tour” in Winnipeg, and Caruso said the trip was very beneficial for the program.

“It was quite possibly the single best thing we’ve ever done for this program, having a full spring ball,” Caruso said. “It was our greatest time of growth.”

Caruso said the Tommies will face the equivalent of a U.S. semi-pro team, and the trip will give the team the chance to get in some extra snaps.

“In addition to the seven non-padded practices that we get based on Division III and MIAC rules, we also get another 10 fully-padded practices,” he said. “That allows us to have a full gamut of spring football.”

Even though the extra practices are beneficial, Caruso said the most important part of the trip is building team chemistry.

“The comradery and the chemistry that you’re able to build during those three weeks time is invaluable,” Caruso said.

Junior cornerback Chinni Oji and junior safety Tyler Erstad said they are looking forward to spending time with their teammates and are excited to get back on the field.

“I’m looking forward to team bonding,” Erstad said. “That’s what all our road trips are like, just on the bus with the guys, hanging out in a non-practice setting.”

One challenge for the team will be adjusting to Canadian standards and rules for half of the game, the other half will be played using American rules. The differences between Canadian and American football include the size of the field and the number of men on the field at a time. A Canadian football field is 8 yards wider, 10 yards longer and each end zone is 20 yards. Also, Canadian football is played with 12 players, versus the 11-man lineup in the U.S.

“That’s the biggest hurdle, trying to figure out what to do with that 12th guy,” Caruso said.

Win or lose, Caruso said what the team learns from the experience is what matters most.

“The goal here is not necessarily winning that game, the goal is in playing everybody,” he said. “The greater goal is to make sure that everybody plays quite a bit, no matter if he’s first team, or second team or third team.”

Even though some prominent players are graduating this year, Oji said he’s not worried about the strength of the team.

“We lost a bunch of great players, but it’s time for other people to step up,” Oji said. “I think that through spring ball, our team can even become greater.”

Junior cornerback Jack Gavin thinks the spring practices will be very beneficial to the newest players.

“The extra spring ball time, with the scrimmage included, is so much more experience, especially for the young guys,” Gavin said. “They get to get more experience under their belt in game-time situations.”

Baihly Warfield can be reached at warf3860@stthomas.edu.