The Prince George Kodiaks won’t be playing the Okanagan Sun this Saturday on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
On that day, in their final home game of the B.C. Football Conference season at Masich Place Stadium, as a tribute to the First Nation on whose traditional territory this city was built, they will be known as the Lheidli T’enneh Kodiaks.
The Kodiaks will be wearing commemorative yellow jerseys to mark the holiday when they line up to take on the Sun, the defending national junior football champions.
"It's pretty neat, it's the first time I've seen it done with football," said Kodiaks first-year head coach and director of football operations Jamie Boreham. "To have a supportive community and supportive organization trying to celebrate togetherness and reconciliation through sport is pretty special."
Now in their second BCFC season, the Kodiaks (2-5) rank fifth in the seven-team league. With three games left, Prince George will not make the playoffs. But there will be no shortage of motivation to try to knock off the Sun (5-1, second place). Okanagan blanked the Kodiaks 32-0 in the season-opener July 29 at Masich.
"These guys are playing for an opportunity to play next year, they need to step up and be the team that they want to be," said Boreham. "They've taken some big steps recently, and that's a good thing, but learning how to play a full complete game is next on the list of things to accomplish."
The Kodiaks are coming off a 34-12 loss to the Valley Huskers last Saturday in Chilliwack, while the Sun rolled to a 66-7 win over the Kamloops Broncos.
Tickets for Saturday’s game (7 p.m. start) will be available at the gate or online through the Tickets North website.
