Linebackers coach Duncan Olthuis (from left), head coach Brad Yamaoka and offensive co-ordinator Mike Faisthuber return to lead the Kamloops Broncos in 2015.
Jacob Palmarin and the Kamloops Broncos are looking to plow ahead, aiming to prove last season’s success was no flash in the pan. The B.C. Football Conference campaign is just around the corner. KTW file photo
There is no respite from the sun at Hillside Stadium, where the Kamloops Broncos held Day 2 of main camp on Tuesday, with temperatures reaching 35 C.
The local B.C. Football Conference (BCFC) club better get used to the heat because it will be under the microscope this season, with fans and critics alike looking to see if the Broncos are for real.
“It will give us an actual true gauge of where we actually sit in regard to everybody else,” said head coach Brad Yamaoka, who in November took over from Duncan Olthuis, now the linebackers coach.
“Those years of the unbalanced schedule helped the team. It was a good thing for that era of where we were as a team. Moving forward, we’ve built up and now we’re ready for the balanced schedule again.”
For the past three seasons, the Broncos played more games against the conference’s weaker teams as part of the league’s effort to increase parity.
It seemed to work, at least for Kamloops, which posted its first winning record in 2014, nearly upsetting the eventual league champion Langley Rams in Round 1 of the playoffs.
The only problem with last season’s 6-4 record was all the victories came against bottom-tier teams — the Valley Huskers of Chilliwack and Westshore Rebels of Langford.
Bronco backers will argue the wins were mostly of the convincing variety and it’s clear the squad took a step forward, separating itself from the Rebels and Huskers.
Fans will find out soon enough.
This season, the Broncos will play the BCFC’s traditional powerhouses — the Rams, the Vancouver Island Raiders of Nanaimo and the Okanagan Sun of Kelowna — just as many times as they square off against the Rebels and Huskers.
There are good signs for Kamloops heading into the new campaign, which gets underway on July 25 in Chilliwack against the Huskers.
The Broncos had a record recruitment haul and more than 70 players will jostle for roster spots during main camp, which wraps up Friday, and throughout the season.
“We’ve never had above 55 or 60 and now we’re at 75 and we cut people,” Broncos general manager Jan Antons said, sweat dripping from his brow as he stood on the Hillside Stadium track.
“We’ve never had to cut people on this team and this is the very first year we did that.”
Before, when local sports fans talked about the Broncos, many of them would do so in a demeaning manor, taking shots at the squad’s ineptness.
“Years ago, I remember talking to coaches going into a game and saying, ‘Hey, if we can keep it within 40, we’ll be happy.’ Those days are gone,” Yamaoka said.
“We’re looking at walking into every game and trying to win, wanting to win and expecting to win.”
Perhaps the tune around Kamloops is starting to change.
“Now, everywhere I go, people ask me, ‘When do the Broncos start up?’ We never had that before,” Antons said.
The offence under co-ordinator Mike Faisthuber was a juggernaut in 2014 and most of the key cogs are returning, including receivers Derek Yachison and Devin Csincsa, running backs Jacob Palmarin and Aaron Morran, and quarterback Steven Schuweiler.
The veteran pivot Schuweiler will likely have an edge on the starting job over Kamloops product Connor Whitelaw and Manitoban newcomer Will Reimer.
Schuweiler threw for a BCFC-record 543 yards in the 48-46 playoff loss to Langley last season. He also threw four touchdown passes and was named the league’s offensive player of the week.
Victories against the upper-echelon teams will not come until Kamloops strengthens on defence and Yamaoka made the D his No. 1 recruiting priority.
Albertan defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Tevin McCarty, along with Vernon linebacker Robby Filice, formerly of the Sun, were brought in to help patch a defence that was often porous in 2014.
Stopping the run was especially problematic. Okanagan scampered for 333 yards against Kamloops at Hillside on Aug. 23 in a game played in front of a record crowd of 1,007.
“It was frustrating last year when you’re on the sideline and teams were running the ball and there was a sense of helplessness,” said Yamaoka, a former CFLer who played for the B.C. Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“The guys are going to move forward and do good things.”
Yamaoka described Sherwood Park product McCarty as an excellent athlete — “a big, strong, fast kid who will make a difference on defence this season.”
McCarty felt the love when Yamaoka approached him in the off-season.
“He came to Edmonton and talked to me and he showed that he cared and he really wanted me here, and that helped with my decision,” McCarty said.
“When I saw the facility and how welcoming the team was, I thought this is definitely the place for me.”
McCarty knows about the team’s past and admits questioning coming to the Tournament Capital, but recent improvement, room to crack the defensive roster and hope for the future were enough to lure him to the Broncos.
The rookie’s first chance to wow the home crowd will come on Aug. 2, when the Rams come to Hillside to give the Broncos an acid test — their first shot at the defending league champions.
“I’ve heard that people like to win around here,” McCarty said with a laugh.
“I know that, so that’s kind of my goal — keep the fans happy, keep people coming and play good football.”
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