South Ottawa Mustangs Football
2185 Arch St Ottawa, ON, Canada

Our Huddle Includes Everyone Podcasts Past president Steve Dean joins the podcast today to discuss his 15 year tenure at the head of NCAFA(2004-2019). Football in general has undergone seismic changes in the last 25 years, both in safety and participation. The expansion of flag, touch and girls football under the NCAFA umbrella took off after the turn of the century and Steve joins us to talk about his efforts and specifically the tireless hours spent by the myriad of NCAFA v...olunteers to expand the game, increase safety and grow what was already the leading minor football league in Canada. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5AOBFUmoOOkBoXjgekqLzp Nepean Eagles Ontario Football Football Canada OSEG Foundation

A loving and long lasting tribute to Coach Chris Ross at Gil O Julien feild by rhe North Gloucester Giants. RIP Chris.

Message from the President Yesterday I had the privilege to represent NCAFA at a City of Ottawa Finance and Economic Development Committee (FEDCO) in support o...f the Ottawa Redblacks and OSEG. When I was writing this- I was reminded all the incredible work that all of you do. I don't think there is football league in Canada that captures the values and spirit of it's community as well as NCAFA does. The league works because we share a common goal of providing a great space for ALL our kids to play in. The journey is more important than the victory. The great news is that the FEDCO committee voted 12-0 in favour of the OSEG proposal. Let's Go Redblacks! "NCAFA is the oldest youth football league in Canada. It was founded in 1955. NCAFA is also the biggest youth football league in Canada at the moment. We have 13 community based associations, run by volunteers, coached by local role models and fueled by the dreams of some 2800 girls and boys between the ages of 8 to 18. We play both tackle and flag. Just a few years ago our sport was in decline and under attack in the media. Some of it self-inflicted and some of it unwarranted. But a few things started happening in 2014. Equipment manufacturers started making safer helmets, everyone from the CFL to youth leagues like ours, started to change the culture around teaching and managing the risk of contact in our sport. We faced our problems head on. We didn’t waiver in our responsibility to player safety. We also knew we needed to be more inclusive. From getting more young girls playing, to reaching out to new Canadians, to developing flag football for those that weren’t interested in tackle football and to continue our leagues rich tradition of ensuring that low income families never worried about their children missing out on playing a team sport. Something so basic, yet something so Canadian. Youth Football is a very cheap sport to sign up for. It’s a great equalizer. On average- a season costs 350 dollars. No equipment is needed to be bought- as we supply it all. Football is the only sport that I know of where a player will walk into a change room in whatever clothes they’re wearing and then walk out to the field and regardless of their parent’s income, is equipped exactly like their teammates around them are. You have no idea who’s poor, who’s rich, where someone lives, what phone they have or how long they’ve been playing. Those social stigmas are removed as every player walks out of that dressing wearing the same 350 dollar helmet, the same 200 dollar shoulder pad, the same socks, the same pants and the same jersey. There is no such thing as a 300 dollar stick. Everyone is treated equally as long they work as hard as they can. That’s our commitment to our kids. I mentioned 2014. As good as our league/sport comeback story has been since then. Something else happened in Ottawa in 2014. Pro football came back to town. At the time, I was the President of the Gatineau Vikings. I was floored that before the team was even awarded, that I was approached by the potential ownership group on how a CFL team could help us as a club to succeed. This local ownership group understood that any pro team needed to work with the grassroots to develop a new young fan base by engaging them through action and not just advertising. They wanted to be partners with the entire football ecosystem. They had to win hearts and souls. Our NCAFA’s comeback story of getting more kids active and engaged is strongly linked to the comeback of pro football in Ottawa and to the OSEG Foundation. The Redblacks and the OSEG Foundation has given our league the ambition to dream. They’ve inspired a new generation of kids in Ottawa and Gatineau to be fans of their local team win or lose. Through our club system our families and players create bonds to their local neighborhoods. They build lifelong friendships. Through the Redblacks - those same families and players create bonds to the entire region. That 11 year old playing football today and going to TD place to watch games, will - one day- be the 52 year old that I am. I had Peter Gabriel and JC Watts, he or she will have Antione Pruneau and Alex Mateas to remember. OSEG has created something special at TD Place. A link to belonging to a larger community. In my travels as President of NCAFA I’ve come into contact with presidents of football leagues in Montreal, Toronto and Hamilton. They are extremely jealous of the relationship that we have with the Redblacks and the OSEG Foundation. No other organization in Eastern Canada does more to help the grassroots of this sport. And I’d like to talk about that for a minute. If you’ve been to a Redblacks game you may have heard me. I sell 50/50 tickets for the OSEG Foundation. I’m pretty loud. I believe in the work that the OSEG Foundation does. It’s important work. It’s community building work. It’s work that lifts up kids. And I’m proud that they see NCAFA in the same way. They know by helping us, we’ll get more kids playing. And the kids that we engage today, are the future doctors, nurses, firemen, police officers, small business owners and even the odd politician. Back to me - walking up and down the North Side- busy selling 50/50 tickets. I have no idea what the score is. I’m busy selling tickets. The team could be losing or winning. I have no idea. But I notice something that never changes. People are very happy to be there at TD Place. Win or lose. They’re at a community party enjoying each other’s company. Simply put, they’re enjoying being citizens of Ottawa. During those moments they’d rather be nowhere else. Personally I don’t care that I’ve missed the play of the game. I get to see 25 000 people enjoying their hometown and each other. And that’s pretty cool. I’ll end this with this. NCAFA gets discounted group tickets from OSEG. We make a small profit from each ticket sold. The reason why NCAFA resells tickets for the Redblacks isn’t financial. It’s to get our kids out to experience a pro game with their buddies. To cheer for the hometown team. To see their community come together as one. United behind the Red and the Black. Heart and soul stuff that makes great memories. Memories that will convince you to stay somewhere for life or to move and invest here. NCAFA is able to play its part in the great city of Ottawa due to the OSEG partnership with the City of Ottawa. Lansdowne Park is the stage for all that goodness to happen. I like many, lived through the days of no CFL football in the city. The days of watching a deteriorating stadium in the middle of an empty bit of pavement. We can’t go back there. What Ottawa has at TD Place, the rink, the stadium, the restaurants, the cinema and stores, the sport teams, the community hub it has become, can’t be lost from the economic downturn COVID has caused. The life that TD Place has given to our league, our kids, and our families and to the city of Ottawa is intangible. I urge everyone to find a way to keep this community engine fueled. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. Gawain NCAFA Our huddle includes everyone." OSEG Foundation Ottawa REDBLACKS Jim Watson

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