Youth movement
CFL to focus on getting kids interested in football in 2018
WINNIPEG — On the first day of CFL Week, Randy Ambrosie decided to visit his old school. He didn’t show up with cameramen in tow. He came alone.
“East Kildonan High School,” he said.
“I’d never been back. I graduated and moved on to university and on to play in the CFLand Christina Litz said, ‘You know, Randy, you should go visit your old high school,” he said of the league’s chief marketing officer, a native of Winnipeg.
“I just walked in the door by myself with a football under my arm for the head coach and spent the afternoon being reminded how important that school was to the changing of my life.”
It was a perfect way to start the week to kick off the new CFL season, especially this new CFL season, as the event is intended to do.
If Ambrosie has his way, and early indications are that he will, it’s going to be the Year of the Kid in the CFL. And being here for the week has brought back memories of his own childhood growing up to be a Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan.
“One of my elementary school friends sent me a picture of our Grade 4 class. I remember my mom worked so hard to get four kids dressed up for the class pictures that day. But I snuck my Don Jonas Bombers jersey there and wore it in that picture. It reminded me of our whole era of young fans back then.”
Ambrosie has managed to get all nine CFL teams to commit to holding a kids day game.
“I’ve told the team presidents that they should start practising making balloon animals,” Ambrosie laughs. “On those Family Days, it should be an all-out effort to make sure every kid and every family that walks through the door for those games saying they experienced a wonderful afternoon or evening.”
Each team will be encouraged to formulate their own market-specific promotions and productions with their own creative concepts. And then share the ideas.
“We don’t want it to be cookie-cutter,” he said. “We want it to be a creative fun atmosphere.
“You want to create a place where kids can come and create a memory. You don’t know what moment it will be that will inspire a kid to become a lifelong CFL fan. You want them tugging on mom and dad’s shirtsleeves on the way out, saying, ‘Can we go back?’”
Some of the days will be created from scratch. Others will take old concepts and make them new. In Edmonton, they’re returning to the kids-get-in-free concept for the Labour Day rematch game.
“In addition to working with the school system to distribute tickets to children, we’ll also be working with community groups, developing an online execution and layered marketing plan to ensure we get as many children as possible to that game,” Ambrosie added.
The league went big into flag football last year and will go even bigger this year.
“Just the act of playing flag football, even if you never put on a helmet later, makes you one step closer to becoming a fan,” Ambrosie said.
It was announced here Tuesday that the CFL and member teams pledged to donate more than $3 million to amateur football this season and, with the plans the Edmonton Eskimos are putting together, they might cover more than half of that themselves.
While their numbers aren’t the same as Edmonton, where being able to buy a 50-50 ticket with a six-figure payout has become a reason to attend a game, several clubs have now adopted the 50-50 model with proceeds to go to minor football.
Last year, the Eskimos donated a record $840,000 from the 50-50 to support amateur football in the area, making it a total of $3.5 million since 2012.
This year, they plan to apply to the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission to operate a 50-50 throughout the Grey Cup festival, hoping to have a $1-million payout and $1 million to minor football from that. In addition to celebrating the Eskimos 40th year in Commonwealth Stadium, they intend to seed the 50-50 with $70,000$70,000 for the home opener.
There are examples of the focus on kids throughout CFL Week.
First of all, the field has been named Football Frenzy in honour of the new video game which has had 500,000 downloads to date and has more dollars being poured into the project this season.
All the teams mascots are here and there’s no end to the face-painting stations and a special area where kids get their pictures wearing helmets and oversized jerseys running through an inflatable tunnel.
And the Bomberrs are hosting a high school co-ed flag clinic and mini combine for kids on Sunday.
You get the idea. Randy’s Kidz Karnival is coming to a stadium near you.
On those Family Days, it should be an all-out effort to make sure every kid and every family that walks through the door for those games saying they experienced a wonderful afternoon or evening.
Randy Ambrosie