The Canadian Football League season has entered the back half of its schedule for some teams, the National Football League has begun its preseason and the Rural Manitoba Football League is also preparing to do so.
The Dauphin Clippers have begun on-field workouts ahead of the new season which at this time, is slated to begin early next month with an exhibition game against Neelin. One week later, Dauphin is slated to open their regular season schedule against Swan Valley on either September 8 or 9. That game will be a rematch of last year's championship final in which the Tigers won a close battle.
The team has so far been focusing on conditioning for now and Cam Bennet says the team is in a good spot.
"I imagine we will be right in the mix again. We have had tremendous turnouts for our workouts already, we had about 25 or 26 kids in our first workout," said Bennet. "I'm anticipating a roster of 30 to 35 so our numbers are looking great and there is a lot of interest from guys that have never played before."
Dauphin's last championship came in 2017 when they upset the Moosomin Generals. Since that season, Dauphin has been close as they lost two semifinals and last year's final.
This year will also be a trial run for the league and if all goes well, as many as three new teams could be permanently joining the league. The Winnipeg Falcons and Winnipeg Nomads have both shown interest in joining the league as are the Neelin Spartans; however, Neelin seems to be having issues getting players out to workouts.
Just more than three weeks separate now from the start of the regular season and the Clippers will be ready.
"The kids are excited, you certainly get that sense," said Bennet. "Our coaches are all back from last year as well which is great. We have lots of bodies to help out and our roster will be solid. We're excited to get on the field and play some football."
