Simcoe Reformer: A Whole New Bunch of Raiders to Worry About

Article By:  Jacob Robinson

Retrieved From:  http://www.simcoereformer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2759882

There's a running joke around Delhi that the town's secondary school should now be called "Delwich."


Although an influx of about 150 students from the recently closed Norwich District High School did enroll, Delhi District isn't about to change its name. Yet the culture around the building is much different this fall.

With several new teachers hired on and the building now operating at capacity, many parts of DDSS have seen a healthy change, with athletics being front and centre.

"The numbers as far as in the school and new faces are way up, we're basically at capacity as a school and our athletic program is definitely reaping the benefit of that," said DDSS physical education department head Dave Leatherland. "The word on the street coming into the school year was, the students coming over are really involved in athletics, school government like student's council and all those neat things . . . We're getting a lot of students coming to pick up their athletic transfer forms and school transfer forms because they're going to be involved in sports."

The timing couldn't have been better for Leatherland's football team either. The core of the team that played in the last four Haldimand Norfolk Bowl games is effectively gone, and this season more than ever, open spots are up for grabs.

"We've got quite a nice collection coming out for football, and they've never had a football team over in Norwich, so this is their opportunity to get their experience in football and see what the game's all about," said Leatherland, head coach of the football team. "We've lost a lot of key players from last year from our four-year run to the championship and I think they're going to really help to fill that void.

"They're excited and they're aggressive. They look good so far -- now that's practice and when the bodies start flying for real, that's when you really tell who's going to be a football player -- but all indications so far are positive, they're playing well."

The football team has close to a whopping 60 players at training camp, while the junior boys volleyball team has 30. Both girls basketball teams are also seeing strong numbers.

Across the board, the Norwich influence has been large.

"I would say, right now, (it's) big," said DDSS senior Curtis Hughes, who transferred from Norwich. "Two guys from the Norwich team, myself included, are playing on the senior volleyball team, so without us, they'd probably have three or four guys. The football team, I know there's quite a few Norwich kids trying out and I know there's a couple Norwich kids...that got asked to try out. They're looking pretty good I guess, and our (Norwich) soccer team went to OFSAA two years ago, and about 70 per cent of those guys have come here to play soccer."

Last year's senior boys volleyball team in Norwich was a force, and although the Raiders lost some momentum this fall when a few of their own volleyball players switched to football, they'll likely have a small, yet dedicated, club.

"It's been quite a bit different because last year, if you know anything about our volleyball team, we were really going places. So now quite a few guys are playing football and a couple guys have graduated so it's a lot different coming here to play volleyball," explained Hughes.

"But I think if you're going to start a program, you might as well start somewhere."