Sunday, April 9, 2023

From the football field to lifting platform

Ignite coach Dale finds competitive outlet in weightlifting

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Donovan Dale is a competitor in weightlifting.
Donovan Dale found the end of his football playing career didn’t bring an end to his time as a competitor in the world of sports.

Best known as a former star defensive lineman with CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops, the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and University of Saskatchewan Huskies football teams in U Sports, Dale found a new sport to pursue that went hand in hand with the elite level coaching he does with Ignite Athletics located inside the Indoor Training Centre. Dale took up weightlifting.

During his relative short time in the sport, Dale was named the Saskatchewan Weightlifting Association’s Best Senior Male Athlete for 2021-22. The coach with the biggest smile among the Ignite Athletics crew has qualified for the Canadian Senior National Weightlifting Championships that are set for May 19 to 21 at Variety Village in Scarborough, Ont.

Dale, who is the head of strength and conditioning at Ignite Athletics, said the athletes he works with at Ignite get a kick out of finding out their 31-year-old coach is still a competitor in sports. His final season of football came back in the fall of 2016 playing on the defensive line with the Huskies. Following that football campaign, Dale joined the Huskies men’s wrestling team and won a silver medal at the Canada West wrestling championships in the 120-kilogram class in February of 2017 after being away from that sport for five years.

On the weightlifting front, Dale said he has found it easier to pass on information and help athletes, if they are having troubles with a lift during workouts.

“There is definitely a bit of a comradery process of when I see them struggling with things it really helps my coaching that I can tell them that, ‘Hey, you know I struggled with this exact same technical issue as well,’” said Dale. “I think it just helps me get on their level quite a bit more, because when they’re struggling with things, they can be confident that I too have also struggled with it and have had to come up with different ways to kind of tackle that problem and fix it.

“The big thing is it really helps build the trust. They trust that I want what is best for them, and I’ve been through the same issues that they’ve been through so that we’ll be able to get through it together.”

Donovan Dale makes a sack for the Huskies in 2015.
When football and his short return to wrestling wrapped up, Dale was finishing up his master’s degree of science in kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan and was focused on his full-time work at Ignite. Dale first joined Ignite Athletics as an athlete client in 2010 before coming on as a coach in a part-time capacity at first in 2014.

After completing his football career, Dale wasn’t looking for a new sport to join, but he didn’t want to stop working out.

“After my football career was done, I was obviously trying to stay active for myself,” said Dale. “I was pretty heavy when I finished my football career.

“I spent two years just losing some weight and just trying to get a little bit healthier. After those kind of years were done and I felt like I gotten my health and fitness kind of at a level that I was happy with, I was kind of going through the audit process of do I want to get back into some kind of competitive sport.”

During his football days at the post-secondary level, Dale, who stands 6-foot-1, had gotten his weight up to 295 pounds playing on the defensive line. He weighed 285 pounds during his final season with the Huskies, and his weight sits 230 pounds these days.

For weightlifting competitions, Dale competes in the 102-kilogram class, so he is able to cut his weight down five pounds to 225 pounds. He found weightlifting seemlessly worked into his lifestyle.

“Weightlifting was just such a natural fit for me, because there are a lot of aspects about weight lifting that I really love,” said Dale, who helped the Hilltops win CJFL titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012. “I love the aspect of technical mastery.

“It is unlike other strength sports where it is the only thing you have to worry about is how much weight your lifting. There are a lot more technical components when it comes to the Olympic lifts, so I love that. The other thing was it just really worked for my lifestyle.

Donovan Dale is going to weightlifting nationals.
“Having three young kids at home, it is harder to get out back into a team sport where you have to do your practices and games at weird times and things like that. The nice thing about weightlifting is Ignite is very well equipped. Essentially for my training schedule, I just show up a little bit early for most of my shifts, and I am able to bang out a workout nice and quickly.”

Dale said he got motivated to be in the sport watching videos of a former Hilltops teammate in receiver Graham Unruh take part in weightlifting. 

After seeing Unruh’s videos of being a national level competitor, Dale thought that was a sport he could pursue. Overall, the one-time prospect with the CFL’s Ottawa Redblacks is flat out enjoying his new sporting pursuit, and he is looking forward to going to nationals in May.

“It has been fun,” said Dale. “I definitely love that at 31-years-old now I still feel like I have a lot of competitive years left in me, so it has been cool to kind of enter the competitive scene.

“I’ve done enough meets now that I’ve qualified for nationals. I’m going to have nationals in Scarborough this year. That is going to be on May long weekend, so I have no idea what the result is going to be.

“It is just going to be fun to get on a national stage and compete again, because I haven’t been able to do that in a long time.”

Dale expects to be involved in weightlifting for a long time now too. He was a weightlifting coach at the Saskatchewan Winter Games that ran February 19 to 25 in Regina, and he has been involved with helping Ignite Athletics to get set to host its first ever Olympic Weightlifting meet on May 6. Looking to the future, Dale sees himself taking on a role in helping the sport to grow.

Donovan Dale is a popular coach at Ignite Athletics.
“I think I am pretty in deep now,” said Dale. “I just finished coaching in February.

“I was the head coach for the weightlifting team for the Saskatchewan Winter Games, so that was a pretty fun experience. Just seeing weightlifting in Saskatoon, it is pretty exciting. It is definitely a growing sport.

“Participation is on the rise. I would love to work with our provincial body in Sask Weightlifting and see what does it take for us to have to grow the sport. That just gives the kids more opportunities and things to strive for when they are participating in the sport.”

For more information about Ignite Athletics, feel free to check out Ignite’s website at igniteathletics.com. Weightlifting photos of Donovan Dale were submitted by Donovan Dale courtesy Joel Kingston Photography. Donovan Dale profile photo at Ignite Athletics is courtesy Ignite Athletics.

Back in the WCBL

SEG bringing summer league team to Cairns Field

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Everyone was all smiles for the return of the WCBL to Saskatoon. 
Starting in May of 2024, Cairns Field will once again be home to a team in Canada’s premier collegiate summer wood bat baseball league.

During a press conference on March 29 at the Indoor Training Centre, the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) and the Sask Entertainment Group (SEG) announced a new Saskatoon franchise had been granted to SEG. SEG is owned by Mike and Colin Priestner and is the parent company of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush.

The new WCBL squad currently named the Saskatoon Baseball Club will begin play at Cairns Field on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds in May of 2024. Saskatoon has been without a WCBL team since the Saskatoon Yellow Jackets ceased operations following the 2014 season. The Yellow Jackets played out of Cairns Field from 2002 to 2014, when the WCBL was known as the Western Major Baseball League.

“A lot of people ask me why the WCBL, and I ask why not,” said Steve Hildebrand, who is the President of the Saskatoon Baseball Club. “This has been a missing piece to this community.

“It is a strong developmental league and a place for high level collegiate athletes to come back home including those from in and around Saskatoon to hone their skills during the summer. We expect to have a strong contingent of Saskatoon and area players on this team.

“We want to make this a gathering place for the community during the spring and summer. This announcement is just another testament to SEG’s commitment to sports and entertainment in Saskatoon with the Saskatoon Blades, the Saskatchewan Rush and now the Saskatoon Baseball Club.”

Kevin Kvame, who is the President of the WCBL, is pleased that Saskatoon will once again be part of the circuit.

Steve Hildebrand is the President of the Saskatoon Baseball Club.
“We’re very excited at the WCBL to grant the 12th franchise to the Saskatoon Entertainment Group and an expansion team for the city of Saskatoon to begin play in the 2024 season,” said Kvame. “I’d like to thank Steve Hildebrand and the Saskatoon Entertainment Group for all their diligence and efforts to bring WCBL baseball back to Saskatoon after almost a 10-year absence.

“The WCBL values the Saskatoon market. It has always felt it was missing from our family since the Yellow Jackets left in 2014. The WCBL is now 12 teams strong in the 2024 season with some wonderful facilities around the league.”

Hildebrand said he had talks with Swift Current 57s President Brad Woods about bringing the WCBL back to Saskatoon and Woods provided a lot of insight and help in bringing a new team to Saskatoon. The Saskatoon Baseball Club President added SEG owners Mike and Colin Priestner played a big part in providing the resources to allow a new WCBL squad to come to Saskatoon.

Hildebrand announced the Saskatoon Baseball Club has hired Mark Campbell as the team’s Director of Baseball Operations, and that the team is in the process of hiring a coach and a recruiter.

On top of hiring Campbell, Hildebrand announced SEG had agreed to a 10-year deal with the Gordie Howe Sports Complex to use Cairns Field and the resources at the Indoor Training Centre.

“I have a couple of people I’d like to thank in (Chairman) Bryan Kosteroski and (Operations Manager) Johnny Marciniuk of Gordie Howe Sports Complex,” said Hildebrand. “(They did) unbelievable work to get this deal done, and they deserve a lot of accolades for this announcement.

“(SaskTel Centre Executive Director) Scott Ford, I couldn’t have done this without you. I thank you for all your help through this process.”

Hildebrand added the Saskatoon Baseball Club is committed to helping Baseball Saskatoon with their Executive Director Jesse Korte and President John Povhe to grow the game, and that there will be further improvements to Cairns Field as part of the agreement between SEG and the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

WCBL President Kevin Kvame is happy Saskatoon returns to the league.
“As a part of this deal, SEG in conjunction with Gordie Howe is really committed to Cairns Field,” said Hildebrand. “We’re committed to upgrading not only the concessions but new surroundings around the ballpark.

“All the changes will be in place for the start of the 2024 baseball season, and we know we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

Tyler Wawryk, who is the Director of Team Business Operations for the Saskatoon Baseball Club, said the business side of the baseball team is hitting the ground running. 

He said the squad will be launching a name the team campaign to help name the club.

“We want to engage the baseball community and the fans here to name the team and help be a part of bringing baseball back to Saskatoon,” said Wawryk. “We will be beginning that here through the month of May and June engaging the community.

“Hopefully by the fall, we will have a name and then begin the process of deciding on team colours and uniforms and so forth.”

Wawryk said plans are in the works to start selling season tickets for the new team in June.

“With Cairns Field having a capacity of about 2,200 seats in the ballpark, we will be beginning taking season ticket deposits in June,” said Wawryk. “We will be utilizing our space at the Sask Entertainment Group Fan Experience Zone located at the corner of 51st and Faithful where we will have team apparel and merchandise and everything that you need to get your tickets to go to the baseball games for next summer.”

Looking forward to the 2024 season, Wawryk believes fans will enjoy the game experience put on by the Saskatoon Baseball Club.

Tyler Wawryk leads the business side of the Saskatoon Baseball Club.
“We can also assure baseball fans in Saskatoon that this is going to be a family friendly atmosphere and a family affordable event and entertainment for 28 nights and hopefully a little bit more in the playoffs for the summer of 2024,” said Wawryk. “We will strive on providing top tier and the best game presentation and production for fans when we do hit the field.

“We look forward to utilizing all of our resources that we have at Sask Entertainment Group.”

The Saskatoon Baseball Club can be followed on Facebook @SaskatoonBaseballClub, on Twitter @stoonbaseball and Instagram @saskatoonbaseball. Watch those accounts for new on the Saskatoon Baseball Club’s website.