Ponies Football kicks off the 2022 season with the annual Spring Meeting on Sunday, May 22 at 6:30 PM in the Stillwater Area High School Auditorium. We look forward to seeing all current 8-11 graders (2022 season 9-12 graders) in attendance with at least one parent or guardian.

In 2021, Stillwater repeated as sub-district champions but this time in the Metro Maroon North. The Ponies went 5-0 in those games, out-scoring opponents 41 to 15. The team, which finished 8-2, advanced to the Class 6A Section Championship but fell to Wayzata. Based on 2021 participation, our team will be smaller, yet, we bring back 14 players who started at least one game. The Red and Black will be led by captains Tom Blair, Charlie Gleason, Max Shikenjanski, and Tim Weber.

The Junior Varsity finished 7-0. They scored at least 22 points in each game and surrendered 11 points per game.

The sophomore team battled number issues, injuries, and had teammates playing up on varsity all season. They finished the season 3-3.

The Ponies freshman team won the sub-district for the fourth consecutive year. The team finished 6-0 in the league, but dropped two close non sub-district games against Centennial and Eden Prairie.

The vast majority of our 9-11 grade athletes participated in a winter sport or workout with ETS Coach David Ponath and Coach Mike Weiss via Pony Strength. Our football players enjoyed somewhat of a return to normalcy in which the vast majority of strength and conditioning athletes worked out together after school and supported teammates in person at competitions.

The spring brings huge sports participation by football players, primarily in track and field, baseball, and lacrosse. An additional 21 football players are in Pony Strength in the PAC with Coach Ponath or ETS at the Lumberyard with Coach Derrick Schmidt. After the spring season, we look forward to near full summer Pony Strength and Pony Camp participation like in 2021.

Summer Pony Strength and Pony Camp registration takes place through Community Education. Additional information and links for registration can be found on poniesfootball.com.

The Ponies Touchdown Club is the program’s booster club. Created in 2012, it seeks to raise funds, organize events, and assist the needs of the Stillwater Ponies Football Program. The PTC, which turns 11 years old in May, has helped transform the program in many ways.

To better understand the PTC’s impact on the program, it is important to know what the school district provides our football program. For the most part, that includes most of the coaching staff, home game officials, away game busing, and helmet reconditioning. The rest must be procured in other ways. The PTC works to increase the safety of our players, give them the best opportunity to grow and develop away from the field, properly coach them on the gridiron, and ensure a quality experience overall.

The primary fundraiser for our program is the Pony Card sale which is conducted by the coaching staff and the players. However, additional funds are needed and have been accomplished by the PTC. The Ponies Game Day Program, All American Sponsors, memberships and some other small initiatives have accomplished far more than we can list here. Nevertheless, the combined results of our effort include the following: outfitting our players with the best equipment on the market, technology, impressive equipment in the weight room and in our football garage, additional coaching staff, and much more.

In 2022, we will replace the varsity uniforms. When this happens, we cycle the varsity uniforms to the sophomore team and the sophomore uniforms to the freshman team. The freshman uniforms, initially purchased in 2012, will be donated to SCVAA for seventh and eighth grade use. In 2020, the Stillwater Area High School Activities Office initiated a cooperation with BSN Sports, which requires our program to purchase uniforms from that company. BSN is a Nike affiliate. Nike is more expensive than Adidas, which we have purchased since 2011. Therefore, to offset some of the costs associated with new uniforms, we are asking our incoming 9-12 grade families to participate in a one-time (we will not ask incoming 9-12 grade players again) “Jersey Campaign”. In effect, we ask each player to send a letter (provided to each player) to a family member, friend, or neighbor, not usually associated with our fundraising efforts, to donate the cost of one jersey, one pant, or any dollar amount to assist our purchase of uniforms. More information will be shared at our spring meeting. In the end, we hope each player can bring 10 addresses to a meeting in late May.

The football program has our players in the best equipment possible and will continue to focus on player safety, development, and experience. In 2022, we need a little extra help to keep our players in quality uniforms. Please support this initiative!

Our players and coaching staff are excited to take another step. See you at the spring meeting!