Huskers looking for helpers

By Eric Welsh - Chilliwack Progress - May 13, 2008

The Chilliwack Huskers are hoping to fill in some gaps on their game-day staff as they prepare for the start of the 2008 B.C. Football Conference season in early July.

Team spokesman Jack Covey says it takes approximately 100 volunteers to put on a professional and polished event for the paying fan, and the team is still a few people short of that goal.

“For example, we need someone to act as a statistical assistant at our home games,” Covey said. “This is a person who sits in the stands acting as a spotter for the person who’s jotting down things like passes attempted and completed, tackles and receptions. The job takes a couple hours and gets you into the stadium to see some football.”

League rules require the Huskers to videotape their games and send a copy off to the other teams in the league for advance scouting purposes.

The Huskers had someone doing the job last season, but he has moved on, leaving a vacancy that must be filled.

The team is also hoping to add some help for long-time equipment manager Jim Willox this season. Willox is a fixture in and around the Huskers locker room, keeping everything in working order. It’s a big job.

“Jim’s been with us for years and years,” Covey said. “The team practices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and we’re looking to find someone willing to work those evenings and help get everything ready for the team — repair helmets and chin-straps and get the tackling dummies out. Stuff like that.”

Sandra Stuppard takes over as the team’s trainer this year, looking after the assorted bumps, bruises and broken bones sustained by the Husker players.

She too will need some help.

“We’re looking for someone who has a level one in first aid,” Covey said. “The league offers a clinic for potential trainers. And in fact, the league also offers a clinic for the equipment manager job. There is support available.”

Each season, the Huskers import 20-25 players from outside of B.C. Starting quarterback Ryan Kroeker, for instance, hails from Saskatoon and he has helped recruit several prairie boys for the team.

Huskers head coach Howie Zaron actively recruits in Calgary and Edmonton, and when these out-of-towners show up for training camp, they need somewhere to stay.

“The older guys, they like to rent apartments and stay on their own,” Covey noted. “But the younger guys who are 18 or 19 years old, we like to find billets for them. It’s often their first time away from home and we like to provide them with a stable environment.”

Along those lines, the team is also looking to bring in accommodation and education liason — someone who can help the out-of-town players adapt to the community.

“We want to let them know what’s going on in Chilliwack,” Covey noted. “When the players come here, they’re looking for jobs and educational opportunities. Many of them end up staying here and given a choice, we’d love to have them put down roots locally and stick around.”

Covey believes the Huskers will have more success attaining and retaining volunteers if they narrow the focus of the jobs.

“Rather than asking people to join the board of directors and giving them a number of tasks, we’re simplifying things,” Covey said. “It’s easier to get somebody, ask them to do one thing, and let them go at it. That takes a load off their shoulders and doesn’t appear nearly as overwhelming.”

The Huskers play five home games this season, starting with their home opener Aug. 3 against the Victoria Rebels. The team welcomes the Kamloops Broncos (Aug. 9), South Surrey Rams (Aug. 16), Okanagan Sun (Sept. 20) and Vancouver Trojans (Oct. 4).

If the Huskers qualify for the post-season, semi-final games will be played the Oct. 11-12 weekend.

To get involved, contact Huskers president Jim Sache at 604-794-0121.

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Huskers looking for helpers

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