The Aboriginal team members of the 2006 Carlton Comprehensive High School Crusaders were treated to a pizza dinner at PAGC Urban Services on November 17, 2006. The team members include, back row, l-r: Don Carriere (Assistant Coach, Cross Lake First Nation, MB), Mike Harasyn (Peter Ballantyne), Darcy Ahenakew (Atahkakoop), Jonathan Zimmer, Naslyn Banab (Waywayseecappo, MB), Dean Fisher (Metis), Jerome Bradley (Metis), Head Coach Bob Coffin. Front row, l-r: Troy Naytowhow (Montreal Lake), Nick Leavey (Atahkakoop), Bretton Hurd (Metis), Mason Bannerman (Metis), Ryan Young (One Arrow), and Jordan Denechezhe (Fond du Lac). Missing: Cody Cameron (Beardy’s) RON MERASTY PHOTO

Are you attending Carlton Comprehensive High School in 2007, and are you interested in football? Don Carriere, an assistant coach of the Carlton Comprehensive High School Junior Crusaders football team, which consists of players in Grades 9 and 10, wants you on the team.

Carriere said that there were 13 Aboriginal players that completed the 2006 season with the team. And that they played a large part in the team’s success in a 3-2 regular season in the Saskatchewan 5A High School Football League.

Carriere has been the Crusaders’ assistant coach for the past four seasons and he wants more Aboriginal/First Nations players to try out for the team next year. Having started the season with 16 Aboriginal – mostly First Nations – players, the retention rate was great.

One of the highlights of the season was in a game in which they knocked off highly touted North Battleford Composite High School, earning them a spot in a bowl game at Griffiths Stadium in Saskatoon on October 14. It was the last game that day, scheduled under the lights, said Carriere, and the stands were packed with fans.

“It was a barnburner,” he said of the game played against E.D. Feehan Trojans on November 14 and lost the game largely on the basis of six turnovers and the absence of two key players.

There is next season to look forward to. Carriere says that new players should know that the coaching staff stresses the importance of academics, discipline and responsibility. “If they don’t behave, they don’t play,” he said.

So who were the key contributers to the 2006 Crusaders team?

Carriere describes Nicholas Leavey, from Atahkakoop First Nation, as a talented two-way player with a great future in football. He is a running back, receiver, slotback and kick returner, as well as playing defensive back, so he’s on the field for 60 minutes a game. Leavey was responsible for much of the offence on the team.

Mike Harasyn, a middle linebacker, is a Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation member from Denare Beach. “He’s a star,” Carriere says of Harasyn.

Jordan Denechezhe, a 15-year-old Grade 9 offensive lineman from Fond du Lac, is another stalwart on the team. “Oh, he’s a good player,” said Carriere.

The graduating players will go on to play with the Crusaders’ Senior team in 2007.

The team attended a trophy presentation and pizza lunch at PAGC Urban Services in Prince Albert on November 17, provided with an all-you-can-eat pizza dinner and soda pop.

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