Lions Pounce On U12 Championship

The road to the U12 championship game was one where both teams had to show a lot of grit throughout the season to make the final showdown.

Both teams established themselves from the opening play of the 2026 season.

If you watched the season go by it seemed inevitable the Lions would face the Assiniboia Rockets.

In the end the Lions defeated the Rockets 49 - 6 to claim the 2026 U12 championship.

Members of the U12 Lions hoist the U12 championship trophy - MJ Independent photo

“It was a great day,” Nathan McCaslin head coach of the Assiniboia Rockets said.

“It was a great day for football. There was good weather. The kids worked hard. The coaches worked hard. We did our best.”

He agreed the Lions continued their strategy from a couple weeks back of throwing everything at Rocjets’ running back Zach Thompson.

“They sure did (team up on Zach Thompson). The Lions are a good football team. Great defence and great offence.”

Thompson - who received the Offensive Player of the Year honours - is known for his explosive speed and maneuverability that has shredded defences this year.

Despite coming in second McCaslin said the achievement is a big thing for a smaller community like Assiniboia.

“Once we won the semi-finals we were happy. We knew the Lions were going to be tough but we were just happy with second,” he said.

The team’s development over the season has been something he’s happy with.

“Since I’ve been around we’ve never made it this far. And it’s just everyone worked so hard.”

He’s highly optimistic about next season.

“We’ve got some new coaches coming up and we have no kids coming up. We’ll just start again and work hard.”

The Coach of the Year Award came as a total surprise he said he’d rather share it with his fellow coaches.

“I was surprised. I didn’t have a clue this was happening. I wish it had our offensive and defensive coordinators names in it instead of mine because the credit goes to them for sure.”

“I thought it was a great game. I don’t think the score shows really how close of a game that was at least physically,” Lions’ head coach Kellyn Bollinger said.

“They were a very physical team. Which in football is a great thing. I think Assiniboia played really well and we just prevailed. We prevailed and just kept our foot on the gas,” Bollinger said.

Assiniboia running back Zach Thompson “was definitely a focus point” for the Lions’ defence.

Bollinger said is well aware of Thompson’s abilities. He voted in favour of Thompson receiving the Offensive Player of the Year Award.

At the same time while you’re focussing on one player, he said that the Lions still had to be wary of other players in Assiniboia’s roster who were talented. Those players were also able to put points up on the scoreboard.

The part of the Rockets’ play that impressed him the most was their blocking.

The season was a great one.

“This is a great team to coach. The kids showed up to practice all of the time and all that work they put in really stood out,” Bollinger said.

“We had some very versatile players on offence they were just able to carry us to the championship.”

He had no problem being named one of two U12 Coach of the year but it’s not a big thing.

“It’s always good to be recognized. I definitely don’t do this for any accolades it’s more I really enjoy coaching,” Bollinger said, adding “I’m hoping to have a positive impact on these kids football careers and lives. That’s why I do it.”

I do hope them but I did have a lot of fun. So that’s a challenge for them I did have a lot of fun.”

With his son moving to U14 next season Bollinger said he will be returning next year coaching in that division.