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"Rider pride" and "Rider passion" were both on display on Sunday in Weyburn, as 10 members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders visited the city for the day as a reward for 小蓝视频 one of the five provincial finalists in the "Where is Riderville?" contest, and to raise funds for Weyburn's Minor Football program.
Nicole Wendt and Rochelle Wendt, who were the driving force behind Weyburn Rider Nation in pursuing the coveted "Riderville" title, headed up the committee along with Weyburn Minor Football to bring the Riders here for a fun hockey challenge game, and to raise funds for Minor Football, as they want to build a new football field to enable their program to expand.
The day-long event on Sunday raised over $20,000, with some money still coming in as of Monday; the events included a sold-out luncheon at McKenna Hall with the Riders football players, an autograph session with them at Crescent Point Place, and then a fun hockey challenge between the "Rider Priders" and the Weyburn Rider Nation Generals, consisting of players from the community.
"It went fantastic. It exceeded our expectations for how well it went, and how smoothly it went. It was an excellent event, and we were excited to do the work for Weyburn Minor Football," said Rochelle Wendt.
They hadn't expected such an outpouring of Rider passion as the crowds that came out for every part of the event on Sunday.
"We were offered the opportunity to do this event because we made the top five (in Riderville), and we ended up making our (financial) goal. Overall, the Rider organization was really impressed with Weyburn, and the support they showed for minor football," added Rochelle.
Part of the success, she noted, was the response from volunteers with Minor Football, who helped ensure every part of the event ran smoothly, including setting up the decorations for the luncheon late Saturday evening at McKenna Hall, after the Family Place held their Parent of the Year Awards and Chocolate Decadence fundraiser.
As far as the Rider players, they only had positive comments to make about Weyburn the support they showed for the Rider franchise.
"They're always really impressed with the amount of support they get here. The players were really impressed and they were excited to be here. They were really blown away by the amount of support the event got," said Rochelle, noting many of them wrote on Twitter about how well they enjoyed the experience.
Nicole agreed, noting the Rider players were very happy with the support shown not only for the Riders, but for the minor football program.
At the luncheon, a question-and-answer period was held with the players before a live auction of some Rider memorabilia was held. A number of the questions focussed on the hockey game to come, rather than on the Riders, but some of the queries related to the football club.
One asked about how significant it was to have Richie Hall back as a coach, and Marcus Adams replied, "I hope it means another Grey Cup won."
Jason Clermont, who spent a number of years playing for the B.C. Lions before coming back to his native Regina to play for the Riders, was asked for the "real story" behind coach Wally Buono's habit of standing on the sidelines.
Clermont replied, "I have the greatest of respect for coach Buono, and if you watch him on TV, really he's no more than an avid fan on the sidelines. You would if you could."
Earlier, in speaking as the hockey team's captain, Clermont told the luncheon audience, "After playing for B.C. for seven years, I kind of forgot what it's like, how much green there is here."
A former wide receiver and currently in charge of marketing for the Riders, Steve Mazurak, told the audience, "Rider pride and Rider passion is what it's all about, and these guys travel hundreds and hundreds of miles and give hundreds of hours to volunteer work."
He added the Rider logo and merchandise is so hot right now, Saskatchewan is at the same level as the top 30 per cent of NHL teams, and the top 50 per cent of NFL teams for merchandising.
Looking out over a "sea of green" in McKenna Hall, he added, "It's the Saskatchewan Roughriders fans; it's a testament to the length and breadth and depth of that pride and passion."
That passion was on display at the autograph session, where the line extended nearly the length of the new lobby of Crescent Point Place, and was in place when the Riders arrived from McKenna Hall. Again, during the hockey game, many of the loudest cheers were for when the Riders scored on the Rider Nation Generals, including a guest player from minor hockey, Austin Gulash, who wore No. 1 on his jersey.
Brent Allin, president of Weyburn Minor Football, was ecstatic about the support shown to his organization throughout the day's events.
"Weyburn Minor Football is absolutely delighted with how well the hockey challenge went. It exceeded our wildest expectations. We're very thankful to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Weyburn Rider Nation for making it possible," he said.
Asked how they're positioned with the extra revenue for the new field, Allin said, "We're having ongoing discussions with the City of Weyburn about building a new facility. Weyburn Minor Football will have a financial commitment to raise a certain number of dollars before that construction will go ahead. Some of our contributions may be 'in-kind', such as work donated by a contractor. Certainly Sunday's event moved the program a lot further along."
He noted they didn't have to sell the event very hard and the luncheon was quickly sold out; there are hopes this may become an annual event.
"There is an appetite to do this again. We had a lot of smiles on the faces of kids of all ages who went through the autograph line," said Allin.
A volunteer from Minor Football, Brian Hopfe, summed up the feeling on the event as he sold programs in the lobby of Crescent Point Place: "The whole idea of supporting Minor Football is great; it's the fastest-growing sport in Canada and in Saskatchewan. It's pretty awesome."
