With weather putting a damper on spring football, Yorkton Minor Football soldiered on anyway in preparation of the 2013/14 YMF season with their annual fundraising night. This year's main targets were the funds for a new washroom/changeroom facility at Kiernan/Century Field as well as a foundation to give special needs students the help they need to come on road trips with the Gridders/Raiders YMF teams as part of a new initative to allow everyone to experience being part of the Yorkton Minor Football program despite whatever disabilities they may have.
Honored guests of the night were Head Coach Corey Chamblin representing the Saskatchewan Roughrider's as well as former CFL running back Craig Carr who played CIS football on the University of Manitoba Bisons with YMF President and YRHS Sr. Raiders head coach Roby Sharpe.
Sharpe mentioned that without the annual Football Night in SK, a lot of the growth the YMF has seen over the last decade would not be possible. "Before this night we were renting our equipment from Regina and didn't have a spring/summer minor football program" explains Sharpe. "Now we have teams in every level of the Regina Minor FootballLeague and are now working on growing our infrastructure further with added facilities to our field," says Sharpe.
Craig Carr, the second honored speaker at the event, talked about how the game of football is just not about wins and losses, it is also about improving as a person, telling his story about turning from a troubled teen to a CFL running back to the sold out banquet. Carr, who played running back with Sharpe at the University of Manitoba and was drafted 10th overall by the Edmonton Eskimos also preached the importance of hard work and the team concept on the field and in life, mentioning that it takes a "village" of people working together to accomplish great things.
As the keynote speaker Corey Chamblin came up to talk about his journey from playing football for Tennessee Tech in college to being an NFL journeyman to playing and coaching in the NFL and NFL Europe and ultimately the CFL, where he is now the youngest coach in the league for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Chamblin began his coaching career as a defensive backs coach from 2006-10 starting in 2007 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who lost to the Roughriders in the Grey Cup that year. Chamblin then moved from Winnipeg to Calgary the next year, where in 2008 he won the Grey Cup as their defensive backs coach, staying in Alberta until 2010.
In 2010 Chamblin moved from Calgary to Hamilton where he took over as defensive backs coach before moving on to the Saskatchewan Roughriders to become their head coach the following year under the recommendation of Pittsburh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Chamblin, who is from Alabama talked about the teaching power of the game and how beyond coaching and helping his team win he takes the most joy in seeing his players grow as men. "Beyond helping the players I coach make their assignment or win a game for us or further their careers, I am most proud and honored to help my players grow as men, be better fathers, be better husbands, and be better people," explains Chamblin.
Chamblin also talked about the Riders additions this offseason, including the league's best active raceiver in Geroy Simon, who stands to hold all of the CFL receiving records by the end of his career and how he expects the Riders to compete for a Grey Cup with it being at Taylor Field this Novemeber. "In my first year I talked about us being competitive, now I feel after last year and the offseason, we can start talking about Grey Cups," says Chamblin.
Chamblin also mentioned despite being a young coach with a bright future who more than likely has the potential to lure NFL teams into requesting his services, his heart is in Saskatchewan saying, "This is a place that has really grown on me and it feels like home, the fans love their team and my family loves the city of Regina and there is nothing more I want to do than bring Saskatchewan a Grey Cup."
