Pressure doesn’t get to Raiders

The V.I. Raiders, favourites all year long in the B.C. Football Conference, would have faced pressure no matter what this season. But they sure didn’t make it any easier on themselves.

The 2008 Canadian Junior Football League champions decided at some point that 2009 would be their “Kill ’Em All Tour,” and they printed up t-shirts to trumpet their goal.

They ended up having to re-brand their season the “Love ’Em All Tour” in the interest of sportsmanship, but it didn’t matter. By then, every team in B.C. was well aware of the Raiders’ boasting.

“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to win this year and to host [the Canadian Bowl],” said Matthew “Snoop” Blokker, Raiders coach. “We were loud about it. If you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk it.”

They did – the Raiders went a perfect 10-0 in the regular season, winning with blowout scores and record-setting statistics. Come playoffs, they earned the two victories they needed to capture a provincial championship. The competition around the BCFC came close a few times but ultimately, nobody could derail the tour.

“When you start thinking about it and you believe that you can do it, that’s where the pressure comes from,” Blokker said.

“Pressure isn’t a negative thing; I believe it’s a positive thing. Without pressure it’s hard to judge your level of performance.”

So that’s why the coaching staff never let the Raiders settle for doing pretty good.

When the team won the B.C. title Saturday, celebrations were muted. The Raiders didn’t look like a team that had won a championship, they looked like a team that had qualified for the championship.

“Maybe that’s one thing I’ve been able to instill in them and Coach Snoop’s been able to teach them – let’s just go for the ultimate,” said Hadi Abassi, team president.

That’s why he was happy to get a box of boastful t-shirts made up, no matter what sort of pressure it put on his players and coaches.

“Point over the fence and say, ‘I’m going to go hit a home run,’” Abassi said. “So what if you get strikeouts? Everybody forgets about all the strikeouts. It’s the home runs that everybody remembers.”

That’s what the Raiders will try for when they step onto the field at Caledonia Park. It’s the Canadian Bowl, the biggest game of the year. There will be pressure either way. So why not go for the ultimate?

“We’ve kept the pressure on ourselves all year,” Blokker said. “And we’re going to do it for another couple of weeks.”

GAME ON … The Raiders take on the Edmonton Wildcats Nov. 14 at Caledonia Park in the Canadian Junior Football League’s championship game, the Canadian Bowl. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

sports@nanaimobulletin.com

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