It's week one for the high school football teams at John Barsby. The varsity squad visits Robert Bateman on Friday, Sept. 22, while the junior varsity team plays West Van on Sept. 27. (Aliyah Alton)

By Dan Marshall

High school football

John Barsby ready to usher in new high school football season

Sep 20, 2023 | 1:33 PM

NANAIMO — The always competitive John Barsby Football teams are poised to get their regular season underway.

This year the Bulldogs will have both a AA varsity and AA junior varsity squad.

Varsity offensive coordinator Kirstin Polz said the team has a marquee matchup straight out of the gate with a visit to Robert Bateman on Sept. 22.

“We’re currently ranked number two in the province and we’re playing the number one ranked Robert Bateman team we played last year in the finals. We’re just expecting fireworks. It should just be a really hard-fought game with two teams that are at the top of the province as far as skill level goes.”

Polz likes what he’s seen so far from the varsity team with a victory in their only exhibition game by a 44-7 score over Mount Boucherie.

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“The senior team is very cohesive. You can tell that they’ve played together before. There’s a really high football IQ with the group. We’ve got a lot of team speed which is phenomenal.”

Barsby’s junior varsity program is a less experienced group with a lot of room for growth.

“The junior varsity team is a very young squad,” said Polz. “We’re made up of predominantly Grade 9’s this year. We do have high hopes of playoffs with them. They are young but they are a very exuberant team.”

The JV’s have an exhibition matchup against Terry Fox on Sept. 20 before opening the regular season on the road versus West Vancouver on Sept. 27.

“In that West Van game, both teams are in a hybrid AA and AAA conference. The juniors hold the short straw by going up against a AAA program in their first regular season game. They’ve got a real gauntlet coming out of the gate but it’s just going to make them stronger.”

Once again the John Barsby teams will led by longtime coach Rob Stevenson.

Polz said Stevenson has been a rock for the kids, the school and the community for over 25 years.

“He cares so much about the kids and he’s such a good mentor, teaching the kids a lot of things that aren’t taught in schools today. Hard work, working together, resiliency. Every kid that joins the program is touched by his tutelage and is better for it.”

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