MontrealAlouettes.com
REPENTIGNY – The Montreal Alouettes brought their unique game-day experience to Parc Catherine-Bousquet in Repentigny on Sunday, offering some lucky young Atom and Mosquito football players the star treatment for a day as part of the second-annual Alouettes Festival.
The Alouettes transformed a pair of local kids’ football games between the Repentigny Rhinos and both the St-Jérôme Pumas (Atom-level game) and Mirabel Guépards (Mosquito-level game), allowing them to live first-hand the same excitement and high energy of Percival Molson Stadium that the pros do week after week.
The visiting Pumas won the first half of the doubleheader in an offensive-oriented 70-54 decision, while the home side Rhinos blanked the visiting Guépards 40-0 in the late game, not that the final scorelines were on anybody’s mind following the day’s festivities.
“Our ultimate goal with this event continues to be transforming a local team’s home game into something exceptionally special for the kids, while encouraging the community to rally around them,” explained Alouettes Chief Operating Officer, Mark Weightman. “For a second consecutive year, the objective was to recreate the atmosphere and big-stadium feel found at Alouettes home games, while showcasing the kids as the stars of the day.”
For the event, a temporary stadium was built, complete with branded guard-rails, animated LED sideline signage, and even Alouettes stadium announcer Jacques Moreau in the announcer’s booth. The games included team introductions, performances of the National Anthem, music between plays courtesy of the Alouettes’ resident DJ, performances by the Alouettes Cheerleaders, and a pair of special half-time shows, just like at Alouettes home games at Percival Molson Stadium.
Members of the Repentigny community also actively contributed to the success of the day-long football celebration which featured the presence of team mascot Touché, Alouettes Alumni, and current players Kyries Hebert, Brandon Whitaker, Alan-Michael Cash, Ameet Pall, and Byron Parker.
“Throughout my career, I’ve always had a passion for helping out kids,” said Hebert who took part in the event for a second straight year. “Anytime I get the opportunity to do or say something that can make a difference in a child’s life, I jump at the opportunity.”
