Thunder set for home opener, team celebrating 25 years in 2024

Scott MacAulay remembers what the inaugural season was like for the Regina Thunder in 2000.

MacAulay, who won the CJFL championship as a member of the Regina Rams in 1997 and 1998, returned to the Queen City to captain the Thunder that first season after spending a year playing football overseas.

“It’s pretty amazing,” MacAulay said. “To be on that team (in 2000) and see how far the organization has grown is pretty special.”

He said when they first started practising, it was on a baseball field directly behind Currie Field.

“It wasn’t like a grass, luscious field with painted lines that we have now for just our defence, it was like a ball diamond with the dirt patches around first (base), second (base), and third (base) and gopher holes and things like that,” MacAulay recalled. “We used to have a coaching shack that eventually burnt down where we used to have coaching meetings and stuff.”

Now as head coach, he leads the Prairie Football Conference team for an 12th year as the team’s home-opener takes place today. Kickoff for the game against the Winnipeg Rifles is set for 1 p.m. at Leibel Field.

“Our players are super excited. We have been on the road the last two weeks and have been fairly successful. After a long training camp and a long off-season and being on the road for the last two weeks, they are excited to get home and play in front of family and friends and have an opportunity to represent Regina in Regina.”

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Now instead of at an old baseball field, the Thunder play and practice mostly at Leibel Field which has undergone significant upgrades over the years.

“The field is lit up, the clubhouse that we are in now has everything that we need,” MacAulay said.

“We went from having one jersey and painted helmets because we got our equipment from an arcade game in Vegas to now having three sets of jerseys and everything, it has been a whirlwind with how things have changed.”

MacAulay also said the Thunder had to forge their own legacy after the big impact the Rams had in the community as a junior football program, and now as a U Sports club. The Rams made the jump to the university ranks in 1999.

“It’s taken a long time for us to develop our own identity but I feel like the organization is there,” MacAulay said.

The Thunder won their first CJFL national title in 2013 — the first season MacAulay was the head coach. They won the Prairie Football Conference again in 2022 but lost the national title game to the Okanagan Sun.

This season, the Thunder are off to a 2-0 start which included a 61-14 over the Rifles on Aug. 11.

But MacAulay expects a different game this time around as the Thunder host Winnipeg.

“When we played them in the first game, there was a lot of weird plays that I had never seen take place over my career of coaching,” MacAulay said.

“I expect it to be a lot tighter and a lot more physical and it’s going to be great football on both sides of the ball.”

As well as another season where the Thunder will look to win the Prairie Football Conference after losing to the rival Saskatoon Hilltops last season, MacAulay is excited to also look back on how the team has got to this point.

“To be able to be around for 25 years, I’m shocked it has gone that fast but it has been a lot of fun and I think it’s going to be a lot of great games where we can go back and meet some of the alumni and talk about the history of the club,” MacAulay said.

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• Rob Vanstone recalls fond memories of the late Ken Miller
• Saskatoon hosts 16U girls baseball nationals as sport’s popularity grows