If this were a normal year, Mary Anne Sills Park in Belleville would be the site for football.
The weather was bright and sunny, feeling more like summer than fall despite the leaves starting to turn -- just about right for teams to throw the pigskin.
Analogies aside it's 2020, and a pandemic put a stop to that -- yet it didn't stop Sunday or the Quinte Skyhawks.
You could have described Sunday as 'first and ten' after the announcement Skyhawks Football President Peter Gabriel made to the socially-distanced crowd of between 25 and 30 people.
It was the culmination of 'months and months' as Gabriel told the crowd and the announcement was originally set to be made back in the spring, pre-coronavirus pandemic.
Now it's official, football in the region is about to hit the national stage with the addition of the Quinte Skyhawks to the Canadian Junior Football League.
In his opening remarks, Gabriel expressed how he felt about the culmination of a process that started about a year and a half ago.
"It's an exciting opportunity for athletes -- young men and even women", said Gabriel. "Our goal is to be the best that we can be representing this community, this region of Eastern Ontario and Quinte and we're excited about raising that banner next season for our first team to be running onto this field."
You read that right -- women -- and Gabriel mentioned the first female signed to a CJFL club in the Saskatoon Hilltops.
He also talked about the growth of football in the region over the last couple of years.
"Currently, we're probably around 600 athletes that take part in our Quinte Flag Football, our Adapt-A-Program for our Special Needs, and also our Minor Football that has nine teams from Bancroft to Napanee, so football is alive and well in this area."
So the countdown is now on for the under-22 team to begin to play in the CJFL starting in 2021, another stop up the ladder from the Junior and Senior Varsity clubs that play in the Ontario Football Conference.
The OFC is one of three conferences in the CJFL -- the Skyhawks will join the GTA Grizzlies, the Hamilton Hurricanes, the London Beefeaters, the Ottawa Sooners, and the St. Clair (Windsor) Fratmen next year.
Local political representatives also expressed their excitement for this new edition of the Skyhawks.
Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith mentioned the frustration of the JV and SV teams not being able to play in 2020.
"This is great news for our community, as a guy who is a sports fan and loves sports this must be driving you guys crazy!", Smith exclaimed. "It must be agonizing watching the NFL being played."
But he also highlighted the value of sports keeping young people active and the life lessons they teach.
"It's important to keep our kids busy -- and nothing is better than organized sports. You learn so much. Working as a team, you learn so much when it comes to how to be disciplined. How to enjoy a victory, and then how to deal with losses because in life you're going to face victories and face losses."
Next, it was Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk's turn to speak, who talked about how the city was able to provide facilities for the Varsity Skyhawks to play -- a sign of renewed confidence and acclaim earned by the city.
"We knew it was going to be successful, but we never imagined that it would grow so quickly that we would get this phenomenal announcement", said Panciuk. "This is the icing on the cake. This is another example of us becoming more prominent -- the residents of Belleville see that and they appreciate that."
Panciuk also emphasized the need for facilities better than the current ones offered at Mary Anne Sills Park to accommodate the product the league expects, and he told the crowd that the city would do what it takes to make that happen.
One of the major benefits of playing with the CJFL Skyhawks is a partnership the club has formed with Loyalist College to allow students 18 to 22 years old an opportunity to continue their education and play football -- without going to university.
Loyalist President Doctor Ann Marie Vaughan informed the crowd about that option.
"We know through experience with the Loyalist Lancer varsity athletes that these students -- they excel in their sport, they excel in their academics, and they are student leaders in all facets of student life."
She continued, "They provide a positive impact to the Loyalist College community and we're really looking forward to developing this partnership."
Finally, Warren Goldie -- a Kingston native -- was introduced at Sunday's event as the team's first head coach -- he addressed the crowd about why he chose to join fellow Kingstonian Gabriel be a part of the newest team in the CJFL.
"We just had a similarity in theory in what football was and what football should be again", Goldie said. "As we started talking and looking at what Belleville brought to the table and the community, what a great sports hub it is here -- when you imagine that probably 80 percent of the team does not go to university, that this is an opportunity for them to prolong their career, move to the next calibre of football is awesome and exciting for them and awesome and exciting for me to be a part of it."
Goldie brings previous coaching experience from Queen's and St. Francis Xavier universities with him to the Skyhawks.
With Belleville's unique location, Goldie said the club has the chance to draw players from Kingston, Peterborough, and even the Durham region -- making the best effort to put a solid team out on the field.
When it came time for Gabriel to announce his closing remarks, it became emotional.
He fought back tears as he thanked his wife, his friends, fellow coaches, players, and the community for their support and helping the Skyhawks get where they are in only three years.
Perhaps it should be first and goal -- the start of an exciting drive for the Skyhawks to national football touching down in the summer of 2021.
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