Frazier winning numbers game

In his five years at the helm of the Frazier Commodores, coach Mike Steeber has seen the program’s numbers go from the low 30s to a total of 50 roster players who were competing for positions as preseason practice began this week.
Those are high numbers, even for a Class A team that isn’t battling for boys against a soccer program. Years ago, the Commodores routinely had between 20 and 30 players in uniform on game nights.
Of course, it hasn’t hurt that Frazier has been in the WPIAL playoffs in each of the last three seasons out of the highly competitive Tri-County South Conference. Frazier posted a 7-3 record in 2013 with roughly 42 players who were drawn from among the top four grades.
Steeber said there’s no specific indicator for the rise in numbers other than “These kids are excited to play football. Each year the numbers have been up and we have over 15 players in both the freshman and sophomore classes.”
One area that helps feed the program is the local midget football league, with which the high school coaching staff works closely every year.
“We had a youth camp a few weeks ago in which a number of players from the league were in attendance,” said Steeber.
The problem in some cases might be that not all Class A schools have the numbers to field a junior varsity program. But Steeber said Frazier seeks out programs willing to schedule the junior varsity games, even if it means traveling a good distance.
Steeber said Frazier had a successful junior varsity season last year and the athletic department will contact schools such as Brentwood or Jeannette, if necessary, just to fill the schedule. Jeannette is a school which has successfully “played up” to the Class AA level for many years, but it’s administration decided to begin competing on the Class A level this season.
“Sometimes you play the same teams or look for games,” Steeber said. “There is always someone who wants to play (junior varsity games). We played seven games last year. We just want to try to get our young players involved.”
With more than half the Commodores’ roster being made up of players from the lower two grades, Frazier has a young nucleus to complement the experienced upperclassmen and provide a solid foundation for the next several years.