Peter Gabriel is the driving force behind getting a CJFL amateur football team to Belleville. He said he’s excited about the opportunity to help put Belleville on the map. Photo by Ryan Peddigrew, QNet News
By Ryan Peddigrew [1]
BELLEVILLE – The Canadian Junior Football League [2] is officially expanding to Belleville.
The expansion to Belleville is a part of the league’s effort to expand further into eastern Ontario. Currently the only team in the eastern region is the Ottawa Sooners.
Peter Gabriel, who runs the Quinte Skyhawks youth competitive football [3] team in Belleville, is helping facilitate the team coming to Belleville, where it’s expected to kick off its first season in the fall of 2021.
Gabriel said he was approached about it last year and he and his partners began the application process.
At Monday’s city council meeting Gabriel made an appeal to council for upgrades to Mary Anne Sills Park [4] where the prospective CJFL team would be playing. The upgrades that were suggested include:
- Wi-i at the field
- Locker rooms
- Stands for fans
- Washrooms
- Making the field accessible
- A media area
- A barrier between the stands and the field
Gabriel said that most of these upgrades would bring Mary Anne Sills Park up to the standards that the CJFL requires for its teams. At council he stressed the opportunity that having an upgraded field with a CJFL team presents for tourism, adding that he hopes to one day host a Canadian Football League exhibition game in Belleville.
The team rosters are filled out by recruitment of players. Gabriel said the team can recruit in and out of the country in order to try to bring in the best talent possible. He also said he’s explored some local opportunities for players.
“We’ve started talks with the athletic director here at Loyalist (College). We feel it would be a win-win for a smaller college in a smaller city to entice a lot of student athletes to come if they want to play football.”
Gabriel says he’s started working on partnerships with city council to help with funding and that he’s also going to fundraise in the community to help pay for some of the necessary upgrades before kickoff next fall.
The team’s head coach will be announced at an event in April at Boston Pizza in Belleville, according to Gabriel.
The CJFL, which consists of 18 teams across five provinces, is an amateur competitive football league for young men from 17 to 22 years old after high school. The league, which was founded in 1974, has sent players on their way to careers in the CFL and other professional or semi-professional leagues.