Estevan Football Family

Imagine a Saskatchewan city of about 12,000 people. Organized sports for kids? Of course! Hockey? Check. Baseball? Check. Softball? Check. Soccer? Check. Broomball? Check. What? No football?! In Saskatchewan? The home of the Roughriders, Canada’s Team. The home of Rider Pride where almost everyone bleeds green. The home of the team where the fans have been loyal through the bad years and are now being rewarded with one of the top squads in the CFL. No minor football in this city? You’re kidding, right? But with the vision, dedication and hard work of a handful of volunteers, Estevan, Saskatchewan was introduced to minor football just three short years ago (2008). And because of this vision, football returned to the Estevan Comprehensive High School in 2009 after a hiatus of about 30 years. We celebrate football, for what it has given the youth in Estevan and area the past three seasons and for what it will continue to offer our youth. And when we say youth, we don’t just mean boys. We’re proud of the fact we have girls also registered in the minor football program, competing right alongside the boys and fitting right in. Football is giving the kids that don’t necessarily fit the “athlete” image a chance to become part of a team. You don’t have to be the fastest, strongest or tallest to play football in Estevan. And it’s adding to the conditioning of those kids who do play other sports, helping them become stronger and better. Ask any local hockey coach who has players that have also played football. But most importantly, we feel football has instilled a sense of team work, respect, discipline and a love of sport. As a parent, coach, or manager, nothing is better than watching a group of kids win it’s opening game of the season after going 0-8 the year previous, losing some games by 72 points. What would the $25,000 Community Award mean to the Estevan Football Family (Estevan Minor Football and the supporters of the Estevan Elecs high school team)? It would help the Elecs finish their practice facility. The Elecs need to complete their locker/equipment room and fence their practice field before it gets damaged by animals or unfortunately, vandals. And with minimal funding from the school system, the Elecs need the monetary help. Other expenses for the team include transportation as it competes in a league against teams that are more than 2 hours away. The Award would also help the Estevan Minor Football program. Unexpected expenses include replacing some refrigerators and possibly water heaters in a concession building and locker rooms at the game field. Damaged because of the flooding that hit southeast Saskatchewan this spring. But mostly, we want to see our program grow and we want concentrate on the kids. Award funds could be used for equipment and for possibly organizing football camps in Estevan to get more kids active and interested in the sport. The Estevan Football Family is proud of the steps we’ve taken in the past three seasons. We are extremely proud of the fact that after only playing organized football for three seasons, we’ve got boys that have been invited to join the University of Regina Rams and the Regina Thunder junior team, respectively. We’re proud that we’ve got kids that have never previously been involved in team sports, active and developing new friendships. And we’re extremely proud of the older boys that have developed an active, disciplined lifestyle to be part of the Elecs. In fact, we’ve seen boys turn away from unhealthy activities such as drugs to become a part of this team. In closing, we thank you for considering the Estevan Football Family in the Kraft Celebration Tour 2011 competition. And we hope you can witness, firsthand, the passion, commitment and camaraderie football has brought to our city.