The Riders Pep band is entering its 27th season on the sidelines, and on Sunday they kicked off the 2019 season with their first rehearsal.
Rhonda Kerr-White has been with the band since the beginning and the team has grown quite a bit during her tenure.
“We started playing all the fight songs for all the different teams,” said Kerr-White. “Our repertoire now is like 80 to 85 songs, everything from the oldie-goldies, to the fight songs to the modern stuff.”
The team now has 45 members, ranging from university students right up to seniors. Many of the musicians come from all across the province with some hailing from Yorkton, Estevan, Swift Current and Saskatoon.
Vincent Houghtaling, a member of the band, became submerged in the Rider gameday atmosphere in the Queen City.
“You get hooked on the excitement and you keep coming back,” said Houghtaling. “The energy of the City, there’s no escaping it. So I kind of gave into my fate.”
Although the season is still months away, the band is hard at work adding to new songs to their routine, to continue bringing the energy that makes Rider game day in Saskatchewan one of a kind.
“It’s fun being the hype before the game, it’s fun seeing the fans. It’s fun playing for people,” said Kerr-White.
Based on a report by Stefanie Davis
