Raiders camps starting up
The Chateauguay Raiders will be starting their winter training camps, where the association’s players can get ready for the season and aspire to win a banner, like last year’s Atom Black team. File Photo
Signups for the Chateauguay Raiders’ football winter camps are ongoing, and the football association is hoping to bolster its ranks of new players for the upcoming season, particularly in older age groups.
“We’re having a big issue with older kids, because there are so many football programs going on right now in high schools, for example, like Billings, which pulls away from our Bantam and Midget community league,” said Andrew Cormier, the Raiders’ technical director, referring to Howard S. Billings High School’s reintroduction of its football program back in 2023.
As a result, the Raiders’ association was forced to fold its Bantam (U15) team last year due to a lack of participation, while also having not been able to field a Midget (U17) team in 2024 or 2025.
As such, Cormier said the association is hoping to attract players who don’t have access to high school football at their current school – including Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) students.
“For those kids who don’t go to Billings, who stay local and go to school in Kahnawake, they don’t have access to a football program,” said Cormier.
“One good thing about Chateauguay is that the Chateauguay Raiders are a community association. So that means it doesn’t matter if you’re from St. Constant, or if you go to school at KSS, as long as you’re in the district, you’re welcome.”
He also appealed to the possibilities football can offer, like building lifelong friendships and connections, the possibility of advancement in education through athletics, and the safe space organized sports can hold for kids and teens in difficult circumstances.
Cormier is hoping that football will continue to hold a place in the minds of kids and teens, in the face of a lot of competition with other spring and summer sports like lacrosse or soccer, other extra-curricular activities, and the ever-creeping appeal of screen time.
Kahnawa’kehró:non have turned to the Raiders for football for many years, and some of those longtime players have joined back up as coaches with their own children, like Joshua Diabo and his son Tehona’kara:a Diabo.
Joshua played for the Raiders for seven years as a youth, and his son will be starting his third year in the program in 2026.
“When my son was born, I just knew I wanted him to play,” he said.
He is a big believer in football as a sport that helps kids learn about teamwork, develop a work ethic, and form bonds and develop memories they won’t soon forget.
“Football allows kids to go out there and burn their energy, tackling and running and just having a blast. It’s very good for the body and the mind,” said Joshua.
Next week will be the last to sign up for the winter camps, which will be held at the Beau-Chateau Sportsplex weekly starting February 15. Interested parents must go to Laberge Park between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, for Atom, Peewee, and Bantam players, and on Thursday, January 22, for Tykes, Mosquito, and again Bantam. Signups cost $100, and only cash will be accepted.
The camps help players get ready for the season to come and keep kids who might not play other sports active.
It’s also especially good for prospective players who have not played organized football before, including older kids.
“It gives them that opportunity to learn the game and to see if they want to give it a shot for the coming spring,” said Cormier.
It’s good for returning players, too. Joshua said his son skipped them at the start of last season, and as a result he was not as ready as he could have been when spring arrived. As a result, they won’t be skipping it again.
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“Kids are getting bigger, kids are getting stronger, and it allows the coaches to see what kind of talent they’re going to have next year,” said Joshua.
