Thunder are flying high for game against Hamilton’s Hurricanes
Expense and early wake-up call aside, inter-conference play will be ‘exciting’
The Regina Thunder is preparing for a new kind of aerial game.
Regina’s PFC team will soon hit the skies for Saturday’s CJFL inter-conference matchup with the host Hamilton Hurricanes.
“It’s definitely going to be a unique experience for everybody,” fifth-year Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay said. “We’ve never flown to play a football game. The logistics around the travelling component and packing and stuff are going to be different for a lot of guys.”
That includes the wake-up call. The game is to begin at 10 a.m., Saskatchewan time, but MacAulay doesn’t think the earlier-thanusual start will be a cause for alarm.
“There are just some things that we need to make sure that we do right this week in preparing ourselves,” MacAulay said Saturday after the Thunder defeated the Edmonton Wildcats 55-7 at Mosaic Stadium.
“The other thing, too, is that a lot of our guys work, and we encourage that. Hopefully they’re all getting up at 7:30 in the morning and going to work, so they should be used to it.”
The organization is less accustomed to the additional expenses that accompany an eastward foray.
“For the Regina Thunder, it’s exciting for us,” MacAulay said. “We’re excited to travel. We’re excited to go to a different province and play against a team that we don’t know about and to have that full experience.
“I just think that for us right now, as a non-profit organization, trips like this really push us (financially).
“We work so hard to raise money at our sports dinner and with our NFL pool and working with our sponsors. A trip like this is another $25,000 more than any other regular trip.
“From my perspective, it’s something that’s great and that is going to be a fun experience but, at the same time, it’s tough on us as an organization right now.”
It is, however, an experience the players will cherish.
“It’ll be fun,” linebacker Davin Williamson said.
“We don’t really know what to expect. We’ll watch the film and see what we have (in terms of the opposition’s tendencies), but we’re excited to go out there and compete.”
The Hamilton Spectator reported that the Hurricanes, of the Ontario Football Conference, requested a home game with Regina after the CJFL approved limited interlocking play between the PFC and OFC.
Hamilton is to oppose a Regina team for the first time since 1993, when the junior Rams defeated the Hurricanes 23-11 at Taylor Field to win the CJFL title.
Regina had previously defeated Hamilton in the 1975, 1976, 1980 and 1981 Armadale Cup national finals.
The Hurricanes won their only Canadian title in 1972, defeating the Rams 33-8 to capture what was then known as the Leader-Post Trophy.
This year’s six-game inter-conference schedule also includes Saturday’s game between the Saskatoon Hilltops and the visiting Ottawa Sooners.