Bantam Comets kick off regular season Aug. 29 against Magrath

Posted on August 21, 2025 by admin

By Garrett Simmons
Westwind Weekly News 

The Southern Alberta Minor Football Association season is right around  the corner.

Magrath and Raymond teams are set to battle it out once again on the gridiron, highlighted by the defending Alberta Bantam 12-A-Side champions, the Raymond Comets.

Raymond capped off an epic 2024 season with a 29-6 win over the Airdrie Raiders in the provincial final. The team is primed for another standout season in 2025, as the Comets hit the field Monday for the first practice of the season.

“We will use the first week to fulfill roles and positioning on the team and then follow up the next week preparing for our first game against Magrath on August 29,” said Comets head coach Jimmy Ralph.

That big Magrath-Raymond clash will take place at 4 p.m., right before the high school Comets take on Ross Sheppard School in a double header at Victoria Sports Park.

Coming off a season where Ralph was also named the Football Alberta Bantam Coach of the Year Award, he is well aware the new campaign will bring about its own set of challenges.

“This year is a completely new year of new kids ready to fill in some big roles this season,” he said. “Cohen Michel and Easton Fraser are our only returning starters from last season but we have a lot of

Grade 9s that are good athletes but were behind a strong group of Grade 9s on last season’s provincial championship team.”

The hope is this year’s second-year players can lead the way once again.

“Each year kids mature and grow confidence going into Grade 9 and surprise us coaches with their improvement each year, so I expect another strong team,” said the coach.

Before another provincial run, everything starts here in the south with league competition, and a few teams figure to give the Comets a run for their money.

“Our league should be solid,” said Ralph. “Lethbridge and Magrath have great programs and good athletes to make up a strong league in the south. We expect them to be strong competitors.”

The coach added some players expected to play big roles for Raymond in 2025 include Cohen Michel, Easton Fraser, Crew Carrell and Karver Mendenhall.

Raymond will continue league action on Sept. 6 with a game against the Lethbridge Rams at 7 p.m. at the University of Lethbridge.

Magrath’s next league game is Sept. 4 at 7:30 p.m., in Magrath, against the Lethbridge Coyotes.