All aboard for the Alouettes 

As part of the Montreal Alouettes’ efforts in Kahnawake, families from town were invited to come watch their regular season finale last Saturday at Percival Molson Memorial Stadium.

Those invited by the Alouettes were the same youth from the community who participated in the September 23 flag football clinic at the Kahnawake Sports Complex.

“We got to go visit them in their backyard on their football field, and now it was our turn,” said Alouettes president Mark Weightman. “It was the opportunity for the whole activity to come full circle. We invited them to come see us play on our field, and come spend some time with us and get a chance to see the guys that spent a couple hours coaching their flag football event, so it was an opportunity for us to return the favour and have them come see us in our backyard.”

The exact number of kids and their families from town in attendance for their 28-27 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was not available, but Weightman said that there was a “good group” in attendance for the game.

Prior to the game, a cheque for $4,000 was presented to Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chiefs Stephen McComber and Ryan Montour as well as members of the Orange Shirt Day committee.

The money was raised by the Alouettes through the auctioning of the special orange warmup jerseys they wore prior to their September 28 game against the Toronto Argonauts, worn as part of the league-wide activities for Orange Shirt Day.

“It was an opportunity for us to reconfirm our commitment to the cause, to have it come full circle, to be able to give that that amount of funds back to the to the community and for me to also get a chance to see them again, it was important,” said Weightman.

Last year, a similar auction by the Alouettes raised $6,000, for a two-year total of $10,000.

“It's not millions of dollars, but we know that where we can make the biggest difference, and where I think the biggest difference needs to be made throughout the country, is highlighting the importance of the awareness, and that's something that we really take to heart,” said Weightman.

Ryan Montour said while other teams have done activities in Kahnawake or with members of the community, what the Alouettes are doing as a professional sports team in Montreal has stood out.

“They continue to be the leaders in the local sports area when it comes to collaborating with us. Their involvement with our community and their commitment is very well received,” said Montour.

Likewise, Mark Weightman said that the Alouettes very much appreciated their visits to Kahnawake.

“The hospitality, it was just unbelievable. Both years that we went, we had a great time,” said Weightman.

According to Montour, half of the money will go to the Orange Shirt Day committee, while the other half will go to registration fees for the Chateauguay Raiders to community players who wish to play football with them.

Both Montour and Weightman said that the two parties are in discussions for next year’s visit from the team, with the Council chief saying that the team had “informally” committed itself to returning.

“How do we grow this next year? What do we do? Do we go to a different site, or do we go to school? And how do we make this bigger?” said Weightman.

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