A long-standing summer tradition for many people in Sault Ste. Marie won’t be an option this year.
The Sault Steelers will not participate in the 2017 Northern Football Conference season. The club told CTV it didn’t have enough players to field a team.
“We wanted to see numbers up around 30 people this year,” said Frank Reid, Steelers head coach.
“We had about 17 registered, so it was just significantly less than we needed to really compete.”
The 2017 NFC season starts next month. The Steelers and North Bay Bulldogs were scheduled to do battle in Week One. The league has not announced any changes to the schedule, at this point.
The Steelers finished with a 1-7 record in 2016 and went on to lose 41-6 to the GTA All-Stars in the first round of the playoffs.
“Heartbroken over the fact that the Sault Steelers were forced to shut down operations this season,” said former Steelers player Jonathon Bujold on Facebook.
“The men I call friends are and were diehards and great athlete's in every era! This moment in time is very sad and I do wish for future moments! Ya'll are loved!” a fan posted on Facebook.
The franchise joined the NFC back in 1972. The Steelers are four-time champions of the Canadian Major Football League; winning the title in 1972, 2007, 2009 and 2010.
The Steelers hosted the Canadian Major Football League title game in 2009. The Sault side pounded the Edmonton Stallions 65-6 in front of more than 4,000 fans at Rocky DiPietro Field.
