SUNBURST — Just 15 minutes south of the Canadian border, the Sunburst Refiners are getting ready for the start of their 6-Man football season.
This year, their team looks a little different.
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“We have seven Sunburst kids, six Canadians," head coach Scotty Bye said. “It’s really unique with the ties to a lot of the families down here and up there. And, you know, just being 15 minutes away, there’s a lot of connections there. It makes it really cool.”
That’s right — this team is the first co-op team that bridges the divide between the United States and Canada, as Sunburst is welcoming in players from Milk River, Alberta. There have been other Montana co-op teams that brought together different high schools across multiple states, but this is the first that spans two countries.
That means teaching some of those players a brand-new ballgame: American football. Bye has his work cut out for him.
“They’ve got a long ways to go. We’re still learning,” said Bye. “It’s pretty hard to go from never playing a snap of football in your life to getting up to the speed of varsity football.”
With being the first co-op team comes a lot of trial and error. The Canadian players aren’t able to just bus across the border, because the semi-truck lane shuts down before their practices and games start. So the schools worked closely with Border Patrol and the Canadian Border Services Agency to find a system to fast-track the students' crossings.
“Our school route picks them up from the border, they walk across, we get them down here, practice, we get them back up there,” Bye said.
One of the seniors from Sunburst is captain Wyatt Rogers. He plays running back, defensive end and linebacker. He’s enjoyed playing with his northern teammates and knows that what they’re walking into is no easy task.
“It’s a new sport to them,” said Rogers. “It’s pretty cool to watch them learn and grow, as well.”
Even though they live in different countries, he said that didn’t stop the comradery from setting in.
“A lot of them I talk to a lot, some of them come down across, they got their notes so they can just cross the border," Rogers said.
Coach Bye relies on Rogers’ leadership on the field, as he’s one of the few who’s been playing football in Sunburst since he was a fifth grader.
“I can’t say enough good things about that kid,” Bye said. “He works his butt off, he leads by example really well.”
Even though Rogers plays defense and offense, one of the ways he shows his leadership is through highlight-reel hits ... as a running back.
“It makes a pretty good highlight when you run through them," he said. "Sometimes, you don’t really see too many options. You just gotta lower your shoulder, take a hit.”
