id

Adam Vickers
Sports Editor

t is a cold October morning, fog in
the air, ground frosted by sub zero
temperatures, and yet you still hear
the sound “Down, Set, Hult!!!” This is the
sound at Van Bien Elementary Schoo!
on Sunday mornings where men get
together every weekend to duke it
out for Prince George Flag Football
League (PGFFL) supremacy. Clayton
Riggan currently runs the league of
five and we had the opportunity to
talk to him about his time in the league.
When asked why the league was
started, the fifteen-year veteran said
the league was about “getting out of
the house [to] hang out with the guys,”
and, really, is that not what sports are
all about?

The league is built around guys who
have known each other for years and
look forward to talking trash to each
other on the field, as well as showing
the newcomers how it is done. The
hazing of newcomers is something of
legend, mirroring the old age traditions
of frat clubs. Initiation marks the
fledgling respect of a brotherhood and
friendships that time cannot replace.
When asked about the best players in
the league, Riggan reacted the way
any full-blooded Canadian would...
“You can't put me on the spot like

that!” Riggan is a long time respected
veteran of the league and with a guy
like that running the league, it is no
wonder it has lasted as long as it has.

The league is older than many of the
players in it, with roots stretching back
to the days when Doug Flutie ruled the
CFL. The PGFFL is made up of players

Sundau's Soldiers

of all skill types, from former junior and
Canadian intervarsity sports players

to guys who have never played
organized football in their lives. The
PGFFL follows the Vancouver top-flight
league rulebook with small adjustments
to the rules, like kickoffs are only used
to start each half and atter subsequent
touchdown. The team scored on begins
with the ball on their 20-yard line.

The PGFFL has a long history in British
Columbia, and competed in a number
of Western Canada Flag Football
Championships years ago.

Although it has been a long time since
a team was sent from Prince George,
this year they finally got organized and
pulled a team together fo compete.
They ended up getting into the top
four, losing in the semi-finals, but with
hopes of returning next year and
reclaiming its past glory. The PGFFL
wants to send another team down and
claim its first Western Championship
title in many years. There is no doubt
Clay Riggan will be a part of that
team along with many of the PGFFL’s
best players.

As the seasons change and the snow
begins to build, it will be time for these
Sunday Soldiers to pack up their cleats
and call an end to the season. Since
there is still grass on the ground and
games to play, the Sunday Soldiers will
carry on into early November, where a
champion is crowned and celebration
for some begins. For a league built on
character and respect, these Sunday
Soldiers will end the season together
by reminiscing what a great season it
was, and enjoy rehydrating with a nice
cold beer.

15

Hockey Canada Reveals
New Olympic Jerseys at MAC

Harlan Nemerofsky
Reporter | The Eyeopener

layers of the three Olympic ice

hockey teams now know what
jersey they will be suiting up in when
they represent Canada next February.

Hockey Canada, in collaboration with
Nike Canada and the Canadian
Paralympic Committee, made its
announcement at Ryerson’s Mattamy
Athletic Centre on the third-level ice
hockey surface on Oct. 9.

“When you talk about our players,
players give up so much, whether
you're playing for our country on the
men's team, the women’s team or our
sledge team,” said Hockey Canada
president & CEO Bob Nicholson. “|
can tell you that every time they put on
the Olympic jersey it is very special.”

Nike Canada's creative director Ken
Black said Nike created the jersey
with both function (“range of motion,
thermal regulation”) and aesthetics
(“putting on a uniform that makes

you feel great’) in mind, and that the
jerseys primary inspiration was Team
Canada's jersey throughout the 1920s.

“When you look at the stripe on that
jersey, | think you can see a direct
connection,” said Black. “Our design
team wanted to modernize it a bit so
that's why you see that asymmetrical
stripe as opposed to run it across, but
that the first inspiration.”

In addition to the home red-and-white
and road white-and-red, Canada

will be the only Olympic team with a

third jersey, without a maple leaf, but

instead with a gold stripe.

Black said that Canada’s most recent
jersey worn in the 2010 Vancouver

Games was overly busy and
complicated, which he says seemed to
take away from the importance of the
athlete, hence why they went back to
the simpler look.

He also said that the jerseys are

15 per cent lighter than the 2010
Vancouver jerseys and each jersey is
made with 17 recycled water bottles.

Afterwards, Nicholson said he was
proud to have the event hosted

at Ryerson’s home rink, the MAC,
because of its historical connection with
hockey in Canada.

“It's great to be back in what | know
as Maple Gardens and it’s great
that Ryerson is here. Their university
programs are really improving, which
is great for the university as well as
hockey in this country, said Nicholson.

Joe Nieuwendyk, a former 2002
Olympic gold medalist with the

men’s ice hockey team and long-time
member with the Calgary Flames, was
very pleased with the jerseys.

‘lve been fortunate to wear a lot

of jerseys and they're all special but
there's something really special about
wearing the Canada jersey- the
history and pride and knowing that
everybody across the Prairies are all
behind you. | love that [the jerseys] are
not too busy- just red, white and a
maple leaf.”

He also clamoured at having the event

being held at the MAC.

“It's kind of been home to hockey for
so many years and its almost fitting that
they have it here since the old Maple
Leats Gardens is such a historic arena
for Canadians across the country.”

Charles Vanegas | The Eyeopener