'I was tearing up': Yorkton welcomes back six local grads in Regina Thunder pre-season game
The last time Reece McCormick took to the gridiron at Kinsmen Century Field, he was a grade 10 student at Yorkton Regional High School.
With his grade 11 year dashed by an MCL injury, grade 12 for the Yorkton product saw the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, halting any chance to take the field as a senior.
Fast forward to Saturday, McCormick — fresh off a training camp with the Saskatchewan Roughriders — admitted it was emotional running onto the field where his football dream flourished.
“I was tearing up when I came in here,” he said following the 46-3 pre-season victory for the Regina Thunder over the Winnipeg Rifles.
McCormick was one of six Yorkton products on the field for the Thunder Saturday.
He commended the Yorkton Minor Football organization for their work in getting them to the Junior-calibre game.
“The organization here produces a lot of great athletes and they’re going to continue to do so,” McCormick said.
“It’s just nice to have a couple of guys that you know, that you grew up on the team, especially after high school, and you get to keep creating that bond with them … it’s pretty special.”
It wasn’t just the players of the Thunder that had a bit of Yorkton flare to them.
Jason Boyda, a co-head coach for the local Raider Gridder Football program, was patrolling the sidelines as a coach for the team.
He too, described the 2022 Yorkton Bowl as emotional.
“For them (the Yorkton players) to come back on our gridiron, and able to play one more time because COVID stole what it stole — that’s why I had tears. I was so emotional,” said Boyda.
In terms of the work Yorkton Minor Football has put in — Boyda said it’s because they’re doing things the right way, specifically early on in these athletes’ careers.
“Our coaches (go) to clinics, the older coaches we have here, we coach them up. With community support and the players buying into what we do — where they want to be in minor football … hard work pays off. The six guys that we have with the Regina Thunder, their hard work has paid off. Now they’re playing at the next level,” he explained.
Boyda wasn’t just a coach Saturday, either.
His son, Jaxon, was one of those six Yorkton players.
The wide receiver caught a touchdown in the second half, a moment the coach — and the father — won’t soon forget.
“I’m going to be honest … when he scored, good thing I got these (sunglasses) on, because my eyes welled up,” Boyda said.
“I had tears coming down because it was such an emotional thing. I’m a dad, right? … That feeling was phenomenal. I can’t just put it into words, pretty proud moment for me.”
All in all, it’s been a proud summer for Yorkton Minor Football. Two grads were chosen in the 2022 CFL Draft in B.C.’s Noah Zerr and Montreal’s Peter Kozushka.
And with a packed crowd full of young players from Yorkton Minor Football in attendance Saturday, it may not be long before more and more young players reach that next level from the Parkland.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.