Raiders Day celebrates football gains in region

The Eastman Raiders minor football program continues to grow.

Gavin Don is the president of the Raiders, and he reported another increase in enrollment during the team’s annual Raider’s Day celebration. Five of the program’s teams were in action Aug. 23 at A.D. Penner Park, with games starting at 9 a.m. and running until 7 p.m.

There was some pre-season disappointment for the club, as plans to enter a team in the U18 Rural Manitoba Football League were dashed after 11 of the 18 hopeful players signed up.

“That was a bit of a heartbreaker,” Don said.

“That sucked.”

Some of those players are sticking with the program, returning to help coach the U15 team, which has moved from the seven on seven format to nine on nine to better prepare players for high school football.

The Raiders have also started a new spring school program, as they teach flag football to kids around the region.

“The hope (is) that one, they go and sign up and play flag, and more importantly two, they come and play tackle football with us,” Don said, laughing.

Skyler Besser runs the program, which is available to sign up for on the team’s website.

“Last year we had a great number of schools reach out, saying we want to have you down, and all the kids enjoyed it, which is what it’s all about,” Besser said.

“We had a lot of kids come out and try out for their first year of football.”

Flag football is on the rise across North America, as the sport will be played at the 2026 Olympics for the first time. It’s a big year for football in general, as Manitoba hosts the Grey Cup as well.

“I’m hoping the Bombers go on a good run, so we can at least get a Grey Cup appearance,” Don said.

“What we’ve found is when the Bombers win Grey Cups, there is a carryover to registration, we do get increases. It was unfortunate one of them was 2019 and the following year we had COVID.”

Flag is one piece of the puzzle for a sport that does a good job of slowly ramping completeness up as players age.

“The league is a developmental league, and it’s about getting the kids out to come out and have fun,” Don said.

The minor football season runs only until the middle of October.