Regina Rams' quarterback Noah Pelletier is from the Queen City and conducts football camps in the province in conjunction with the Roughrider Foundation and Football Saskatchewan.
"It's definitely an amazing job to have, I've been doing it for the past two summers, I've been super lucky to be able to come back and do that -- something I've always been pretty passionate about," Pelletier said on the Rider Broadcast Network.
"Growing up, I had a lot of opportunities with football and I find it important to pass that on to younger generations. Having the opportunity to go all around Saskatchewan and give kids the opportunity to either learn about football or grow on what they already know is an amazing opportunity. I feel like I've built a lot off of last year, I hope I can continue to build with what I'm doing and keep doing it for as long as I can."
The skill levels in different places around Northern Saskatchewan vary, according to Pelletier. He's the program coordinator for Grow the Game camps.
"Going out into these communities, you see a lot of different things. Some communities will already have some kind of football background, whether they're playing flag football, they're watching football, and some communities are completely new to it. It's super nice to be able to give them the opportunity to learn more about it. Overall, have a fun time with them," Pelletier said.
"I've made it a point that I'm not just going out there for one day and leaving it -- I want to see what I can do for them to continue football around there, whether they want to be Rider fans, whether they want to be Rams fans or whether they want to keep playing tackle, flag, touch, whatever it might be. Lots of these communities have been amazing to work with, they're helping me just as much as I'm helping them. I definitely hope to see a lot of these communities stick with football and be able to play football, whether it's players or fans, it's amazing to see football continuing to grow."
Pelletier believes it's important to teach football fundamentals at his camps.
"We focus mostly on flag football for the younger kids, it's a nice introduction to the game. We go right from the basics. Some of the kids will have never touched a football before in their life or some might have a little bit of experience with football. I try to always, no matter what the drill I'm incorporating, to have something for everybody, I can pick it up a level or start right from the beginning," Pelletier explained.
"We do a lot of flag pulling, we do a lot of throwing and a lot of catching, the biggest thing is having fun and showing them how fun football can be, but also giving them core skills you need to be able to participate in the game."
Pelletier enters his fourth season with the Regina Rams in 2025, he initially joined the team in 2020. During the 2024 U Sports football season, Pelletier helped the Rams win the Hardy Cup and advance to the Mitchell Bowl but Regina was defeated by the eventual Vanier Cup champion Laval Rouge et Or 17-14.
Last year, the six-foot-two, 210-pound quarterback suited up in 11 games for the Rams, completing 63 percent of his passes for 2,462 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. He added 34 carries for 101 yards and six touchdowns on the ground. The Balfour Collegiate graduate caught one pass for five yards that went for a touchdown.
"What we did last year was awesome. It really showed what we're capable of being, able to make it to that point and compete with a team at that level showed a lot for us. It sparked something in us that we want to go that much further," Pelletier said.
"It's hard to look at the end right now, we're gonna take it week-by-week. We're going to continue on that ride that we had in those last couple of weeks. Hopefully, we can find ourselves in a similar situation and play another week of football."
If that scenario plays out, Regina would have a home game in the Vanier Cup at Mosaic Stadium on Saturday, November 22 as the Rams are set to host the Canadian university national championship game.
