Sports

Area football, volleyball teams open fall camps

By Matthew Semisch

08/12/2014

As hard as it is for some of us to believe it’s already the middle of August, many young athletes on Bottineau County’s fall sports teams have been counting down the hours up to this point.

Starting this week and next, area college and high school football and volleyball teams are opening their fall camps and thus their 2014 seasons. Most teams begin their camps this week, while high school volleyball teams open their fall camps next Monday.

The football team at Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) opened its 2014 fall camp bright and early Monday morning. The Lumberjacks’ first official practice of the new season began at 8 a.m. that morning, not long after most of the team’s playing personnel arrived on campus over the weekend.

The Lumberjacks are entering their first season as a football-only member of the Minnesota College Athletic Conference (MCAC). DCB’s first game of 2014 is at home on Aug. 23 against new league rival Minnesota West.

DCB’s volleyball team also opened its 2014 fall camp on Monday. The Ladyjacks open their 2014 campaign even sooner than the football team does, as DCB’s volleyball team faces a trip to Mon-Dak Athletic Conference league rival Lake Region State on Aug. 20.

The football teams at Bottineau High and Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn (W-N-G) also open their fall camps this week, with both groups getting started on Wednesday. Bottineau’s first game of 2014 is away to North Prairie on Aug. 26, while W-N-G opens with a road game of its own at Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood that same evening.

The final area fall sports teams to get their pre-season training underway are Bottineau High’s and Newburg-Westhope’s volleyball teams. They both start next Monday.