A Saskatoon football lifer

Game took Yausie from Nutana to CFL to Football Sask

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Jeff Yausie points out instructions on the Hilltops sideline on Aug. 24.

There was a time the current CEO of Football Saskatchewan and defensive coordinator of the Saskatoon Hilltops was not on the road to having a football life.

Way back when he was in elementary school, Jeff Yausie decided to give the sport a shot during a tryout camp for the Kinsmen Football League. At the time, he decided to continue with hockey, baseball, fastpitch softball and track and field as he liked those sports better.

It wasn’t until his Grade 9 year in high school that Yausie really started to be attracted to the game when he was attending Nutana Collegiate. He played for the Nutana Collegiate Blues junior team in Grade 9 and became the starting running back with the Blues senior team in Grade 10. He continued as the starting running back through Grades 11 and 12 on the way to graduating from Nutana in June of 1984.

With Yausie on the senior team, the Blues made it to the 3A provincial final in 1981 and 1983 falling to Regina Luther and Regina Central respectively. Now at age 59, Yausie still reflects on those years fondly and chuckles when today’s high school, junior and university aged players are surprised Nutana once had a team.

“They certainly don’t get it,” said Yausie. “They only see Nutana in the same vision as it is right now.

“It was a real small school when I went in the early 80s, and I had some super good friends. (We had incredible) sports people and incredible teachers at Nutana, so it was a great experience. It is so different in a small school, because you’re friends with everybody.

“It is not as clicky. We all hung out together and partied together and played together, and it didn’t matter if you were academic or if you were hanging out in the smokers’ lounge or whatever. Everybody was a part of the sports teams, and we were all friends.”

For a number of years now, Yausie’s Football Saskatchewan office has been located at the Gordie Howe Sports Centre building on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds. It is filled with all sorts of mementos from his football life. His position as the CEO of Football Saskatchewan, which governs the sport in the province, takes him all over the province and on various trips across Canada with work in the game.

When the Hilltops CJFL season is going, he can often be found at their evening practices at Ron Atchison Field or on the team’s sidelines during game days including home tilts at Saskatoon Minor Football Field serving as the club’s defensive coordinator. Over the decades, his football journey has been a long and winding one.

Jeff Yausie’s bio in the 1989 CFL Facts, Figures and Records book.

After graduating from high school, Yausie switched positions to defensive back to play four seasons with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team from 1984 to 1987 in what is now known as the U Sports ranks. His rookie season just happened to be the first year that saw Brian Towriss begin his journey as the Huskies legendary head coach. Yausie was joined on the Huskies by his twin brother, James.

In the 1988 CFL Draft, Jeff Yausie was selected in the fifth round and 36^th overall by the Calgary Stampeders. He was listed at standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 195 pounds in the 1989 CFL Facts, Figures and Records book.

After the Stampeders training camp wrapped up in 1988, Yausie elected to suit up for the Hilltops, because his younger brother Paul was still playing on the team. James had departed from the Huskies after graduating from U of S with his commerce degree.

With the rules that existed at the time, Jeff was called back to the Stampeders and would get into three regular season games with the CFL squad. When he didn’t suit up for the Stampeders, he was allowed to fly to wherever the Hilltops schedule took them and play for them on their game days.

Overall, Yausie is amazed by the memories he has collected in the game.

“I just feel so lucky to do something that I’m passionate about,” said Yausie. “My friends in the football community, it has just been so rewarding to work with.

“It is such a unique game in how much we practice and how hard it is. Those are the kind of people I want to be around.”

In 1989, Yausie was cut by the Stampeders. He was then contacted by fellow Saskatoon product Brendan Taman, who was at the time the manager of football operations for the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Jeff Yausie, left, on the sideline with Tom Sargeant.

Yausie proceeded to sign with Ottawa and played two games with the Rough Riders in the 1989 season. He was released by the Rough Riders before the start of the 1990 season and returned home to Saskatoon.

While taking classes at the U of Saskatchewan, Yausie was brought into Football Saskatchewan by a friend to do volunteer work. He was hired to a paid position with Football Saskatchewan in the early to mid 1990s as technical director at first on a part-time basis and was moved to full-time status a short time later.

About 1999, Yausie moved to become the executive director of Saskatchewan Blind Sports. While with Saskatchewan Blind Sports, Yausie was still on Football Saskatchewan’s board of directors.

He moved back to a full-time role with Football Saskatchewan about late 2000, early 2001 as the body’s executive director. The opening came after Bernie Schmidt left Football Saskatchewan due to the fact he wanted to focus full time on his offensive coordinator position with the University of Regina Rams Football Team.

Yausie worked continuously with Football Saskatchewan since that time ultimately becoming the sport body’s CEO.

“I’ve been super fortunate just to be involved in football in this province,” said Yausie. “People are so passionate about football.

“It is 99 per cent good, and there is always one per cent bad in whatever you do. It has just been a terrific experience. We’ve had super supportive people on the board of directors over the years and just very few problems.

“One of the things that I believe in as an organization is empowering your staff and the people around you. We’ve had a terrific staff at Football Sask., and we’ve certainly grown as we’ve grown as an organization. I think we had about 5,000 or 6,000 members in around 2001 with Football Sask., and we’ve grown to around 23,000 or 24,000 now.”

During Yausie’s time with Football Saskatchewan, the organization has grown to the point it has two main offices. The north office located at the Complex covers Saskatoon and the northern part of the province. The south office located at Mosaic Stadium in Regina covers Regina and the southern part of Saskatchewan.

He is also proud of how the female side of the sport has grown during his time with Football Saskatchewan. Yausie once coached a flag team that contained his daughter, Beau, and the team won a national title in 2012.

Jeff Yausie, left, works the Valkyries sideline in May 2016.

Jeff Yausie also helped the Saskatoon Valkyries of the WWCFL get going. He served as the club’s first head coach from 2011 to 2016 working with Valkyries general manager Michelle Duchene, who still holds that same role with the powerhouse squad that has won 10 WWCFL titles.

“Right from the get go, we had great coaching and a really good organization,” said Yausie. “All of a sudden, we had incredible athletes coming to play that had succeeded in other sports and had been very successful.

“They were open to coming and giving football a try.”

When it comes to Football Saskatchewan, Yausie said the organization has one overall main goal.

“In all of it, one of the messages we try to send is we want people to have a positive and fun experience in football,” said Yausie. “That doesn’t matter if it is tackle, it doesn’t matter if it is flag, it doesn’t matter if it is playing catch in the park, it doesn’t matter if it is a “learn to” program, it is just people enjoying the game and loving the game.

“That creates a football fan, and that builds into the next generation and helps us grow.”

In 2002, Yausie rejoined the Hilltops as linebackers coach and held that position when they won CJFL titles in 2002, 2003 and 2007. He became the club’s defensive coordinator in 2010 and 10 more CJFL championships followed with the last coming in 2023. Over those years, Yausie has built an outstanding relationship with legendary Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant.

“(Hilltops head coach) Tom (Sargeant) is an amazing leader, and he is so competitive that he has a knack to solve problems,” said Yausie. “He is a cool personality that attacks problems and doesn’t avoid them.

“I think that serves you so well in football, because if you avoid little mistakes, they turn into big ones. We all bought into that, and that is how we coach. We’re all such good friends that we’re like brothers, us coaches.

“We’re just having a good time. It is stressful when you lose or when you don’t play well, but we just embrace it and embrace the grind.”

When he looks back on his football life, Yausie said one of the things he cherishes the most is friendships and relationships he has made. With the Hilltops, Yausie admitted he never expected he would be one of the team’s coaches still at age 59. He said the great people in all parts of the game are a main reason he has remained in the sport.

Jeff Yausie, centre, cherishes the football life he has created.

“Especially for me, it is not just Hilltops,” said Yausie. “It is Valkyries and women’s football.

“It is the girls with flag football. It is coaching development. It is officials development.

“It is relationships. If you can reach out and we can get away from texting and emailing and we can just talk, we can solve a lot of problems and get along really well, which is kind of what we’ve done in Saskatchewan football.”

Valkyries grow into institution in Saskatoon

Female football sees big growth since club’s birth in 2011

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

The Valkyries raise the WWCFL championship trophy in 2022.

The meteoric rise of the Saskatoon Valkyries has given Saskatoon a vibrant female football landscape.

Back in the fall of 2010, Football Saskatchewan held a women’s tackle football clinic in Saskatoon to gauge the interest of women for the sport. Roughly around 45 women ranging in ages and athletic backgrounds from Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and surrounding areas came out to give the sport a shot.

From that initial gathering, Football Saskatchewan backed the start of two 12-player women’s tackle football teams with one in Regina and one in Saskatoon. In the spring of 2011, the Regina Riot and Saskatoon Valkyries began play in the inaugural season of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League.

The Valkyries won the first four straight league titles and eight league championships overall in the circuit’s history. Since the Valkyries start, numerous players from the team have gone on to coach or take on administrative and supporting roles in the sport.

Female flag football ballooned in “The Bridge City” since the Valkyries creation. The Rush High School Female Football Flag League was born around 2014. The Saskatoon F.A.T.E. (Female Athletes Tackling Excellence) program was created last fall to allow high school aged female players to play games in the six-person version of the sport.

More female players began to show up on high school rosters. Saskatchewan began sending provincial teams to national competitions and Valkyries players have represented Canada on the international scene.

Michelle Duchene, who has been the Valkyries general manager since the team’s inception, marvels looking at what has transpired in Saskatoon since the Valkyries played their first game back on May 22, 2011 downing the Riot 56-6 at historic Taylor Field in Regina.

“The best thing has been watching the sport grow in both flag and tackle for girls, and that we have created the space for females to have a place in football,” said Duchene, whose team hosts the Riot at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. “More and more of our players are moving on to coaching tackle and flag football or finding other ways to be involved in the sport once they retire.

“Hearing athletes coming from other sports talk about how they are treated like elite athletes in our community by being part of the Valkyries is a pretty special feeling. We get calls from groups asking our player to come talk to them or teach them about being an elite athlete and our sport, which is a pretty cool ask. It is amazing hearing young athletes talk to us about how excited they are to play for the Valkyries one day.”

Valkyries MLB Emmarae Dale (#45) chases Riot QB Aimee Kowalski.

Over the years, Duchene has recruited a number of players to come play for the Valkyries. Sometimes, the sales pitch comes from planting the idea in a female athlete’s mind that she should give football a try, and she might discover she likes the game.

One of those players Duchene planted a seed with was star middle linebacker Emmarae Dale. Before Dale joined the Valkyries in 2016, she played flag football and Duchene was her coach. Duchene passed on some friendly nudges that Dale would probably like playing for the Valkyries, if she joined the team.

Dale has since become one of the Valkyries most recognizable players. She helped the Valkyries win four WWCFL titles coming in 2016, 2019, 2022 and 2023.

Along with playing for the Valkyries, Dale was recruited to play for the Saskatoon Hilltops and joined the storied powerhouse CJFL club for the 2021 season. She became the first female ever named to the Hilltops roster, and she was also the first female to play in the CJFL regular season.

Dale also suited up for Canada’s National Women’s Team that played in the International Federation of American Football’s Women’s World Championship, which ran from July 28 to August 8, 2022 in Vantaa, Finland. She was one of 12 Valkyries players that was on Canada’s main roster.

Now at age 26, Dale has always loved being a member of the Valkyries and has gained a new appreciation being a veteran player of the team.

“It has been really cool to see kind of where the team has grown throughout the years,” said Dale. “It has been interesting even to just like witness my own transition from being a new player to a veteran.

“It is really awesome just to see all the rookies and new people that we’re getting out. It has been a pretty incredible career so far. I’m just really thankful for the years I’ve been able to have and will hopefully continue to have for a little bit.”

Alex Eyolfson (#15) calls a play in the Valkyries huddle.

Dale has also been active in coaching the female game in various capacities in Saskatoon. She has seen the number of female flag teams grow over the years and said it was cool to see the F.A.T.E. program debut last fall.

“It is definitely an interesting dynamic, but it is really cool being able to see both sides of the ball,” said Dale. “Us veterans that are starting to coach more, I think it has been helping our own play to able to coach as well.

“It is really honestly good to be on the coaching side and kind of get those friendships and memories too. It is kind of interesting to still be coach and an athlete for a lot of us. It has been going really, really well, and I think we all really enjoy it.”

Like Dale, receiver Ricki Obed joined the Valkyries in 2016 too. She was a member of their last four WWCFL championship teams and suited up for Canada’s National Women’s Team for worlds in 2022.

The 32-year-old enjoyed coaching in the F.A.T.E. program last year and the new realizations that continues to bring.

“Starting the F.A.T.E. league and coaching that was just such a great experience,” said Obed. “We coached it with a full female coaching team as well with most of those being Valks players and retired Valks players as well.

“It was just so cool to watch these girls get to experience tackle football and see them start to pick it up, see them start to learn it and love it was very exciting. Now, we actually have some girls on our roster that came from F.A.T.E. just last year. It is this whole big circle, and I’m just loving being a part of it.”

During her time with the Valkyries, Obed has enjoyed seeing former players become members of the club’s coaching staff including some of her former teammates.

“Obviously, the goal of the program is just to get more women involved in football,” said Obed. “To kind of watch that progression of some of our players from the earlier years becoming coaches now, we have Marci (Halseth) and Beth (Thompson), obviously, on our coaching staff.

Ricki Obed breaks downfield after making a catch for the Valkyries.

“Rienna Rueve and Beth Lalonde are out helping coach this year as well. To see that kind of shift watching them go though their career and then into coaching now is really cool. Obviously, it opens my eyes to those opportunities as well.”

Obed said all the former Valkyries players that she knows always have positive things to say about the team. She remembers being a rookie looking up to the veteran players. Obed enjoys that memory and all the memories she has made with the squad.

“It is like a family, honestly,” said Obed. “The girls in the locker room are like some of the closest people in my life.

“To have that and to meet people that way is pretty incredible. Obviously when you go to battle together, it creates a very close bond.”

Pat Barry, who has been the Valkyries head coach since 2017 and been with the club’s coaching staff since 2014, said it has been special working with the team’s players over the years and is pumped every time a new season comes around.

“I’m a long-time coach, obviously, even before this,” said Barry, whose team has regularly played their home games at SMF Field since 2015. “It is just something I’m super excited about every season.

“When you work with adults, life sometimes gets in the way, and I understand that. So many of our athletes, they come from different sports. They come from different backgrounds.

“Now some of them, football is their first sport. That is something that didn’t happen in the early years of the club, but you had players who played flag football for many, many years or now have played tackle football in the new F.A.T.E. league or on their high school teams as well.”

Of course, being able to win eight WWCFL championships has been special as well for the Valkyries over the years. Duchene said winning titles is a nice reward for the team, but when all is said and done, she wants the players to come away feeling being a part of the Valkyries was a great and special thing in their lives.

“I love watching our player reach their goals, get better each year, some go on to play for the national team, and I am so proud of them all for reaching whatever their goal is, even if it is just trying the sport for one year,” said Duchene. “The hope is that their experience with our team will help them all succeed in life after they are done their playing careers.

The Valkyries raise their helmets for a win on June 18, 2023. 

“The number of players who have come through this program is getting bigger, and it is super fun to have them come back and see the impact that they have made and relive the glory days.”

For more information on the Saskatoon Valkyries, feel free to check their website saskatoonvalkyries.com.

Bears’ Grabowski brings throwback approach to football

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Mason Grabowski motors downfield for the Bears.

When you ask Mason Grabowski about what his strengths are as a football player, he sounds like a throwback to an era when George Reed, Jim Brown and Mike Ditka rumbled down the field.

“I’m strong, physical, fast and I like to like punish people,” said Grabowski.

The Grade 12 running back, receiver and punter for the Aden Bowman Collegiate Bears Football Team has developed into one of the province’s best high school players. He helped Saskatchewan reach the gold medal game of the Football Canada Cup held this past July in Edmonton, Alta.

The gold medal game between Saskatchewan and Quebec was ultimately not played due to air quality concerns caused by the smoke from forest fires from B.C. and Alberta. On August 4, Football Canada declared Saskatchewan and Quebec would receive gold medals as co-champions of the event.

With all that noted, Grabowski’s words of sounding like a physical throwback are backed up by his Bears head coach in Justin Loshack.

“He (Grabowski) is a warrior,” said Loshack. “He has been playing through some injuries too.

“He is just honestly getting better every week and healthier every week. He just brings a physical dimension to our game that you don’t see very often in high school.”

The 17-year-old Grabowski said he has loved the game for pretty much as long as he can remember. The love for the sport was passed down through his family.

“On my dad’s side of the family, they’re just like big football fans,” said Grabowski, who stands 6-feet and weighs 190 pounds. “My dad played.

Mason Grabowski makes an acrobatic catch for the Bears.

“We’re all big (Saskatchewan) Roughriders fans. It is all what I grew up with. I started playing since when I was young and just kept with it.”

Grabowski started out playing flag football under programs offered by Saskatoon Minor Football and progressed to suiting up to play tackle in the Kinsmen Football League making him a frequent visitor to Saskatoon Minor Football Field. He said his father, Trevor, who played for the 1986 CJFL champion Regina Rams, was his biggest influence in helping him out in the sport. The Rams joined the U Sports ranks in 1999.

“He (Trevor) has just been around the game,” said Grabowski. “He can help me.

“He tells me what to do better.”

Going into Grade 9 in 2020, Grabowski didn’t get to participate in any type of high school football game action as the SSSAD didn’t hold any competitions during the 2020-21 school year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that had gripped the world. Shutdowns and restrictions were in place in various areas of life at that point in time.

Full high school football action returned to the province in 2021, and Grabowski found himself on the Bears senior team playing safety, receiver and a little bit of running back. He discovered playing at the high school level was a bit of an adjustment, but elected to rely on playing the game how he knew best.

“Coming into Grade 10, everyone was so big,” said Grabowski. “I’ve been physical all my life and just fast, and I let my physical play be just how I play.”

Loshack said Grabowski has been outstanding on and off the field during the years he has played for the Bears. The sideline boss has noticed his young star player has taken more of a leadership role as a Grade 12 senior.

“He (Grabowski) has always been good,” said Loshack. “His play on the field has never changed.

Mason Grabowski (#11) enjoys the physical part of football.

“He played in Grade 10 and played in Grade 11 and again this year. His leadership this year, you can tell as a Grade 12 he has grown into that for sure right from the start of the year. His leading by example has been huge for us.”

Loshack said Grabowski has benefitted from playing in SMF’s North Sask Academy League in the spring and with Football Saskatchewan’s provincial team program in the summer.

“I think it has helped for sure,” said Loshack. “Football is becoming the next hockey kind of thing.

“There is opportunity to play a whole lot more, and it has helped players for sure. I would say for Mason (Grabowski) this year the challenging thing has been the way he plays. His body takes a beating.

“We’ve been trying to manage some of those things too. I think he is getting healthier and healthier. The way he plays he’s always going to give it all that he has, and he takes some beatings because of that for sure.”

Looking back at this past summer, Grabowski said he was disappointed the gold medal game of the Football Canada Cup was called off. He believes his Saskatchewan side would have beaten Quebec in the title game.

So far during his final high school season, Grabowski has helped the Bears start 5-0. He said he doing everything he can to help the Bears win a provincial title.

“That has been our goal all year,” said Grabowski. “It has been our goal since Grade 10.

“Every game that I’m playing, I just want to leave everything I have out on the field.”

When it comes to playing at the post-secondary level, Grabowski said he has been talking to some Canadian universities, but he hasn’t made any commitments about where he might potentially play.

Loshack believes Grabowski could have a lengthy playing career in the future that extends to the professional level.

Mason Grabowski battles his way through a pack of defenders.

“At the next level, I see him to continue the way he did in high school which is to make a team impact right away and work his way into a dominant player at the next level,” said Loshack. “To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if five years or six years from now you see him two levels beyond high school.”

Grabowski isn’t looking that far ahead and is focused on doing the best in the season he is playing in right now for the Bears. With that noted, he is pleased to know he will have the chance to continue playing the sport beyond high school.

“It is good knowing I’m going to keep growing as a football player and just keep playing at the next level,” said Grabowski.“I just want to keep playing and keep balling out and keep winning.”