When August arrives – so does the start of Eastman Raiders football.

Coaches and players got an early start to the 2016 season with practice sessions in July.

"Most of it was with no equipment – just to get them an earlier start," said Raider team president Sean Walsh. "Get the winter blues taken away from them. We did the Winter Camp as well and it was very successful but not everyone was aware of it so I wanted the coaches to get the kids out earlier and it makes it more competitive. All the Winnipeg teams do it and we've go so many weeks allowed by the Manitoba Minor Football Association to do it."

Player registration was up for Atom, Pee Wee and Bantam teams but were down in Crunchers.

According to Walsh that changed during the past couple of weeks.

"Our numbers have go up in the Crunchers but we've still stuck to one team for safety issues. Obviously you want to have enough kids playing. Going forward, I think it's more awareness. All across the league excluding three clubs out of Winnipeg, every other club in the city only has one Cruncher team this year so it was not just in our region."

Player safety is the number one priority for the Eastman Raider football club.

Football Canada made it mandatory for the 2016 season that coaches are now required to get “Safe Contact trained” in the latest safe blocking and tackling techniques.

Walsh adds that all Raiders teams will have an additional trainer on the sidelines for the upcoming season.

"It's up to the club's to supply the trainers. We've typically always had one trainer but with so many kids this year we wanted to beef it up a little bit, so to speak. We went with every team having two trainers and everyone had to be certified in order to do that and it was relating to sports injury obviously – not per se the regular first aid."

The highlight of the football season is Raiders Day.

"It's huge," said Walsh. "Tentatively right now it's going to be the second last weekend of August. We like to celebrate that every year. It's a great day to get the kids and the families out, watch some local football and have some fun."