Marco Ricci was honoured by the Regina Thunder last month for his dedication to building the game of football in Estevan, but he would only accept the award if everyone else who helped bring the sport to the Energy City was also recognized.
Ricci, who now lives in Emerald Park but still owns the Estevan Boston Pizza franchise, was presented with the Murray Sawa Award by the Thunder at their Dinner of Champions at Regina’s Evraz Turvey Centre on March 19. The Murray Sawa Award, named after a longtime Regina sporting community volunteer who co-founded the Regina Minor Football League, is presented annually to someone who contributes to amateur sport in the province.
“It would be completely unfair for one person to take credit for what has happened in Estevan,” said Ricci. “We have an amazing group of people who were in Estevan that actually really made it happen. We all contributed the exact same amount and it’s just a real group effort.”
Ricci said there was a strong desire for football in Estevan in 2008 when the group of volunteers started to build up the sport locally. He said at that time there wasn’t even any football fields in the city, but though the work of community leaders and businesses who stepped up to contribute financially they managed to get a football program in place as well as three locations to play in just six months.
“In that first year we had over 200 kids sign up to play minor football,” he said, noting there were two atom, two peewee and one bantam team that year. “We were fortunate enough to connect with the Regina Minor Football League who invited us in (and) allowed us to play in their league, so we had teams to play against. It was a fair bit of work, but it’s so gratifying because there is nothing better (than) to see those firsts that we were able to witness and we witnessed the guys putting on the equipment and watching the young athletes play the game and our very first touchdown.”
Brin Werrett, president of the Regina Thunder, said every community needs people like Ricci and his fellow volunteers to dedicate their time and effort to allow the town’s children an outlet in sports. He said the Murray Sawa Award is given out each year to recognize these people and celebrate their achievements.
“We just thought Marco was a good fit for what he’s done for minor football in Estevan, how he started the program there and it seems to be thriving and the numbers continue to grow,” said Werrett. “It’s nice to see that.”
Werrett said Ricci doesn’t actually have any real connection to the Thunder, as he played his football in Regina with the junior Rams, but football programs throughout the province all have a connection to the club through their recruitment of players. He said there were 27 athletes on their 85-man roster last year who played their minor football outside of Regina, so this award allows them to recognize the great work done by people to build the sport in places other than the Queen City.
“If it wasn’t for all these people to help develop sport in all their communities, and not just football, we wouldn’t thrive so much in the city,” he said. “Take a look at everyone in these small towns where these kids are growing up and it’s all about the volunteers and the effort that they put in.”
Ricci said the start of minor football in Estevan in 2008 led to the development of the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) Elecs football team in 2009, which also meant more fundraising and more effort by volunteers to build a field at the school and buy equipment for the players. He said a great group of people led by ECS principal Mike Little and vice-principal Walter Wood helped make that final step in Estevan minor football a reality and the Murray Sawa Award is a lasting symbol of their hard work.
“When the high school program happened I had an amazing group of coaches who were there, so those guys, the people who volunteered, are the real champions of the whole thing just because they’re never looking for recognition,” said Ricci. “They just are doing it because they want to make sure that people experience that great sport.”
