Registration is now open for the Eastman Raiders Football Club, welcoming kids and teens to learn new skills.
Vice President of the organization, Naomi Murry is encouraging parents to consider signing their children up for the program. She explains that the first few practices are designed to evaluate each player’s skills and find the position that suits them best.
“A lot of kids often want to play offence in the wide receiver, running back, and tight end position. That's usually what kids are requesting to play,” Murray says. “But if a child seems to be observant and able to read a field, they may be better suited for defence as a safety or middle linebacker. If we have some kids that are solid in their stance, they may be better suited for O-line. If you have a more aggressive kids, perhaps defence is where you want to place them.”
In addition to helping players find the right position, the early practices will also focus on teaching safe contact techniques.
“That is essentially how to hit and how to fall safely and how to tackle your opponent safely,” she says. “It's incredibly important that we have a cut-off date for registration because the safe contact happens during those early weeks, and it is a safety concern if a child doesn't have that safe contact skills. So we want to make sure that the kids are learning the skills of how to take a tackle and how to tackle.”
Murray says that the coaching staff receives rigorous training, with a strong focus on concussion prevention and safety.
“They have actual training that they go through for safe contact as well as being a community sports leader. And for the Bantam level, intro to competition, so there's a lot of training that our coaches go through to ensure that our kids know how to play and but also know how to play safely.”
Although some children may come with prior football experience, Murray says that the league is focused on learning and growth.
“We are a developmental league, and you do not need to have any experience playing football. We often have kids joining in the second or third age group,” she explains. “Last year, for example, we had a child join the second-year atom with no experience, he had hardly even thrown a football and a quarter way through the season, he was definitely one of our strongest defensive players. So you do not need skills, you do not need to know how to play. You will be taught all those skills.”
The Eastman Raiders program is entirely run by volunteers, and Murray asks for patience and support from families.
“All parents are expected to volunteer. Some of those options are coaches, team managers, trainers and then there are home game volunteers, such as working the canteen, selling 50/50 tickets, field clean up and set up, things like that.”
For Murray, one of the most rewarding parts of being involved in the program is seeing her son form meaningful relationships through football.
“He met his best friend in football almost three years ago, and they've been inseparable ever since,” she shares. “Last year we hosted like four or five football friend days where we had BBQs, we had the kids running around our yard tossing the football, so these friendships are really valuable to these kids. They lose together, they win together.”
Beyond the game itself, she says the program helps kids develop important life skills.
“I've witnessed these kids console their teammates after a hard loss and I see them encourage each other and pick each other up off the field. These kids are learning real life skills like teamwork, discipline, resilience, leadership and how to communicate and show compassion to their peers.”
She also shares a personal story of how football has positively impacted her son’s mental health.
“My son used to struggle really bad with anxiety for many years, and I would say football has been instrumental in growing his confidence and helping just create a community around them to the point they didn't actually struggle with anxiety anymore.”
That sense of community extends beyond the players to the coaches as well.
“It's just really created such a great environment for these kids to grow up in, and the coaches as well, they are phenomenal. We have pictures of coaches hugging the kids and consoling them. My son had a school assignment last year and his number one role model is his head coach, so it's really making an impact with these kids, and I love being part of it.”
Registration is open now at www.eastmanraiders.com, with early bird pricing available until May 4. The final registration deadline is June 30.
With files from Carly Koop