Sports documentaries have really picked up steam over the past decade and now the High River Flyers well get to tell their story through one.
Current SAIT student, and director of the documentary, Nicolas Rufiange is hoping to tell the story of the ups and downs of the Flyers 2024-2025 season. The idea to film the Flyers season came after Rufiange filmed a short five-minute documentary called "The Off-Season" with former head coach Colten Hayes.
"We were talking to Colten after the documentary and he had told us that they needed somebody for the High River Flyers for marketing and promotional stuff to deal with their online marketing stuff. So I started talking to Tim (Bradbury, Flyers President) about it and Tim basically said that if we were to work them on the marketing stuff, then we could do other stuff that we are interested in, which was this webisode series," Rufiange explained.
Rufiange is getting some help from other students at SAIT and even commented on how his teacher Damien Mustaphi has been a big help since he once filmed documentaries for the coolest game on ice, hockey.
"My teacher, he used to film for the OHL (Ontario Hockey League) in Ontario, and he's super passionate, he's super excited about it. He has been helping us with every little aspect, so it's going to be great," he said.
Rufiange didn't grow up in Alberta as he is originally from Quebec, but has loved his experience in the "Wild Rose Country". He has been in the area for about eight years now and said he loves Alberta, as well as the people who live within it.
He is also passionate about the game of hockey, as he played with the Midget AAA team in Quebec when he was growing up.
"I have a soft spot in my heart for hockey, so making this as a director gives me a little more passion than most," Rufiange added.
The docmunetary is also a part of a final project at SAIT where the students are guided to work with real world companies at no cost and learn about how to get out into the real world while gaining experiance. Rufiange is in his fourth and final year at SAIT.
Not only did they choose to document the Flyers season because of the relationship Rufiange had with former head coach Colten Hayes, but he picked the team to follow because of the highs and lows that are expected during this season, compared to the Carstar Okotoks Bisons who are coming off a three-peat as HJHL champions.
"As of right now, I think the best possible team that we could capture their journey is the High River Flyers," he said. "The High River Flyers are just the perfect team because the narrative we have for the webisodes series is the highs and the lows. So right now, they are having a tough time getting all the dynamics going, they are all new guys, a new coach. It's tough right now but I'm hoping they build the team up from the ground up. We have talked to the captain, coaches, and everybody. Everybody has very high hopes for the team, and what I have seen from the games I have been to, they are a solid team, they work hard, and they are passionate guys. That is what we want to capture," Rufiange explained.
The first episode is currently in the final process of completion as the rough cut is nearly done and they are currently working on the sound, colour, and fine cut. There are expected to have five webisodes that will be released throughout the season.