Raiders looking forward to start of season

Posted: 2:00 AM CDT Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022

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This article was published 18/08/2022 (1038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

The sounds of pads popping and kids yelling can be heard most days at A.D. Penner Field this summer, as the Eastman Raiders prepare to kick off the 2022 season.

The Raiders will have multiple cruncher teams (ages 8 and 9), an atom team (ages 10 and 11) and a peewee team (ages 12 and 13).

Gavin Don is the president of the Eastman Raiders. He said registration numbers province-wide are up compared to pre-COVID, and Eastman is no exception.

“It’s crazy, absolutely crazy,” Don said.

“We’ve got an oversubscribed peewee team, an oversubscribed atom team — could do with a few more crunchers — we’ve got plenty of space for those. We’ve got 41 peewees and 32 atoms.”

Cruncher games are played on a smaller field, with each team fielding only six players at a time. Atom is a nine-player per side league, and peewee introduces players to the full 12-on-12 Canadian football experience.

Don said the Raiders could even field a bantam team (ages 14 and 15) next year.

“I’m going to have to buy more jerseys,”– Gavin Don, Eastman Raiders president

“I’m going to have to buy more jerseys,” he said, laughing.

“We’re almost out of jerseys for this year.”

The Raiders will host their annual “Raiders Day,” on Aug. 27, with all three age groups playing teams from Fort Garry at A.D. Penner Park in Steinbach. The festivities open with a cruncher game at 10 a.m., another cruncher team in action at 11:30 a.m. The atoms play at 1:00 p.m., and the peewees will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

There’s already a club atmosphere between the age groups, as all three divisions hold practices on Mondays.

“It’s pure luck that everybody practices on Monday, because we leave the practice schedule up to the coaches,” Don said.