Rams ready to butt heads
Timothy Brumby gazes across the freshly cut turf at Dennison Field in Tsawwassen, the sun casting a lone, skeletal shadow off the goal uprights.
The new president of the South Delta Rams is drinking in the anticipation of a brand new season of football.
"This is our field of dreams," he says firmly, his passion for the sport evident in his excited tones.
Brumby was a volunteer announcer for the Rams last season and wanted to volunteer again this year. When he found out that Mel Beaton was leaving the position of president, he wanted the job.
"Needless to say, I jumped in with both feet. The water was deep," he admits.
Deep. You might say that about the talent pool. The South Delta Rams Football Club operates five age categories in the Vancouver Mainland Football League (VMFL), from Flag (ages 6-7) to Bantam (ages 14-15).
Last year their Spring Flag team became U12 provincial champions, and their Junior Bantam team won the VMFL championship.
"Once the kids get brought in here our stress is to provide the best environment possible for the kids to learn the sport, experience it," says Brumby.
His son Morgan, 12, plays with the Junior Bantam team. Morgan was in a tournament against North Delta last weekend and his teammates deliberately worked to make sure he got a touchdown on his birthday.
"The sportsmanship, the camaraderie, it's touching," says Brumby, adding his son's one of the smallest on the team but the Rams welcome all shapes and sizes.
"I told him if you want to save yourself, stay low," he said laughing.
The cost for registration is $225 for a 10-game season, but Brumby said the kids get to use equipment worth three to four times that much. That's why sponsors are so important to the club.
On Green and Gold Day (Sept. 16), car company Dueck is offering a test drive at Dennison Field. Dueck will donate $25 for each person who takes a test drive, up to a maximum of $5,000.
That kind of money goes a long way to keeping the Rams on the gridiron. And Brumby is determined to keep the club's long tradition going.
"There's a professional passion about it," he says. "But when the kids have fun, everybody has fun."
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