Spring training camp began Friday for the Okanagan Sun of the BC Football Conference.
About 50 players returned to the Apple Bowl in Kelowna and seven holes on the team need to be filled.
New coaches have been recruited to ensure staff aren’t stretched too thin, which coach Ben Macauley said happened last season.
The Sun lost to the Saskatoon Hilltops at the national championship in 2016.
While the Okanagan junior football team welcome inter-league play during the regular season, Macauley said it won’t be happening in 2017.
“As a coach I want to see the best competition I can see all the time,” Macauley said. “So if I can play the best, the number one team, we get better. We get at least a gauge of where we need to be when it comes time to play for national championship.”