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Regular Season 2023
2023 x Regular Season

Winnipeg Rifles

Recent Winnipeg Rifles News

National Signing Day

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters) 05/28/2023, 10:15pm PDT

Players begin their CJFL careers on June 1st

For some, Thursday June 1st is the biggest day of their young lives, as the CJFL presents National Signing Day.

The day is earmarked every year on June 1st, the day in which players can finally sign with a CJFL club.  When a player signs an agreement, he is essentially signing for his entire junior football career as the player then becomes the property of that team.  

So many considerations are made before signing with a CJFL club; location, team support, roster depth, coaching staff, scholarship program, etc. all weighs in on a player’s decision.

National Signing Day is not only exciting for the players, but the coaches as well.   Their ideas, hopes and hard work will finally come to fruition as they start to fill their roster spots.

Following National Signing Day coaches can continue to recruit and sign a player immediately if he’s a good fit for their team.  That said the bulk of the players ready to play in the CJFL will sign on June 1st.

Once players sign on the dotted line, coaches can begin developing their schemes and systems around their potential starters.  They can also begin preparing for their Main Camp along with Week 1 of the regular season.

All three Conferences and 19 CJFL teams will participate on June 1st, signing players to their 2023 roster.

Fans can keep up to date with CJFL National Signing Day on social media with #CJFLSigningDay as teams will be posting once a player signs.
 

 

Celebration of Life - Ken Smith

By Supplied 05/22/2023, 2:30pm PDT

Come celebrate the life of a CJFL legend

Join the CJFL and BCFC families as we celebrate the incredible life of Ken Smith! He never wanted a formal service but always enjoyed getting together with family and friends to visit, have some laughs and share some stories.

Celebration of Life details:

Date: Friday, September 1, 2023. This is a few days before what would have been his 103rd birthday.

Location: North Surrey Minor Football clubhouse located at 13750-88th avenue, Bear Creek Park, Surrey. This is a place that was very special to Ken; he spent a lot of time over the course of his football life.

Time: 1:30 - 3:30-pm

The celebration will have a few speakers from the various walks of his life, a tribute to his beloved late wife Mary then an open mic for anyone who wants to share.

Please RSVP to Helen Johnson - hjohnson6280@shaw.ca.

Who was Ken Smith

Ken Smith was named a CJFL Life Member in 1993 and held the same distinction within the BC Conference.  The Executive of the Year award in the BC Conference is named after Ken and has been for quite sometime.  During his tenure as the Surrey Rams President, he is credited for saving the team during tough times in the 1980s and secured the grant necessary to build the lights on Bear Creek practice fields in North Surrey. 

Ken is a decorated war veteran who served with the Cameron Highlanders of Canada in WW II and a survivor of the Dieppe Raid on the coast of France.

Ken was 102.

Rifle Up This Spring

By Ryan Watters (@ryan2tswatters) 05/07/2023, 4:30pm PDT

The Winnipeg Rifles open their spring camp on May 8

Photo courtesy of Matthew Hamilton

The Winnipeg Rifles have high expectations coming into this season after a successful campaign in 2022 which included a couple of very important wins for the franchise.

They will open their Spring Camp on May 8 and do expect to have another massive turnout attending.  In the past they have averaged over 100 players and this year should be no different. 

Last season the Rifles finished 4-4 and pushed the eventual champion Regina Thunder to the brink in a 23-14 semi-final loss to end their year.   Their defence was solid all season and finished with a Conference high +10 in the turnover category and led the way with 10 fumble recoveries. 

The coaching staff will assess their new crop of players all week during Spring Camp and will finish with the always exciting scrimmage on Saturday.  There have been times in the past where a job has been won or lost during scrimmage, so players know there is plenty on the line. 

They will open the season on the road on Sunday August 13 when they face the Edmonton Huskies before their home opener a week later when they welcome the Saskatoon Hilltops. 
 

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