Graphic by Raj Brodie
By Griffin Wylie
Sports Reporter
After the Sandcats won the championship last year in glorious fashion, I am sure you have been wondering, what is next? Well, there were a lot of changes, starting with a slightly different set of captains.
Former Sandcats QB Nick Canter will replace Lucas Rishikof as the 4th RMAFL captain. Over the summer, the captains and commissioners also decided that we would add a reserve player to each team this year: a long-awaited request.
Towards the beginning of the school year, we received the unfortunate news that RMAFL icon Ms. Robinson could not remain supervisor due to the history department meeting on Thursday WIN blocks. We were outraged and discouraged, but luckily Mr. Palmer volunteered to accompany us.
Days later, the draft commenced. Tons of fans went to give their support and try to get signatures from their favorite players. After an exciting half an hour, players were picked, and teams were set.
The first overall pick went to Griffin Wylie, as he thoroughly debated whether he should draft Jesse Youngblood or Zach Gabriel. Despite Zach being a star player on the football team, Jesse is larger and less injury prone. So, Jesse was the first overall pick. Following this were the picks of Declan Daley, Luke Beckett, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Nate Rottenberg.
Griffin and Declan formed a great connection the year prior, and Luke Beckett was slipping too low for Griffin’s liking. Following that, the picks of Matthew and Nate were the two late-round players Griffin had faith in.
A couple of days later, the first trade in RMAFL history was made: Matthew Fitzpatrick for Lucas Rishikof. This meant that Griffin would team up with two of Newton South’s Hockey Captains – Declan Daley and Lucas Rishikof. Matthew would now be on Dylan Zukowski’s team.
The second overall pick went to Nick Canter, allowing him to draft star football player Zach Gabriel. On top of taking one football player, Canter also paired him with Damian Sperazza, another football player. Additionally, Nick drafted his soccer teammate Ross Curran and one of his soccer team managers Shervin Boostani. Charlie Jin, a hockey player, was also drafted to the team, finishing the roster.
The third overall pick went to Will Freudenheim, who happily selected his former teammate Ido Spigelman. Heading into the draft, Will wanted to run it back with his former team, feeling as if his team the year prior never reached their true potential. With his next two picks, he selected more former teammates: Zack Matzkin and Mikey Rivers, making his first three selections the same as last year. To build onto the Otters 2.0, he drafted Adam Cohen and the wrestling captain Oliver Friedenthal as his reserve.
Lastly, the fourth pick fell to Dylan Zukowski, who similar to Will, was able to take Nick Umansky, who has the perfect combination of speed and hands for RMAFL. Then, since he had back-to-back picks, he could pair up another quick receiver with Nick – he took Kamar Burris-Khan, former RMAFL championship MVP. After these picks, he made a shocking decision, drafting both of the Rishikof twins. His decision was very controversial because people were unsure whether or not they would want to play with each other.
Evidently, it was no surprise when Lucas Rishikof requested a trade the following week. He was then moved to Griffin’s team for Matthew Fitzpatrick, helping balance the teams and separate the twins. To finish out his speedy team, he drafted Andrew Greenberg, a track captain and former RMAFL free agent of the year, making Dylan’s team the fastest and most dangerous in the league.
Overall, the league is excited to be able to compete after a long off-season. We hope to have fans check out our first game after school on Thursday, September 29. If you want to continue hearing updates about our league, feel free to check our Denebola page or follow us on Instagram @rmafl__.
