EE Football Alumni Association looking for Elks to recapture legacy

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They spent their entire career on Edmonton’s professional football legacy, only witnessing everything unstoppable spirals unveiled downwards over the past five years.

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The EE Football Anumni Association’s name encompasses both the disappearance of the Edmonton Eskimos era and the reinvention of the current Edmonton Elks – as the seasonal slump drags on a lot of mud, looking lightly.

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However, the change in private ownership is to call new life to the old defender, because a new era has begun under the guidance of some of their own clubs and now under new management.

Larry Thompson’s first order after a sale sticker was taken on the sold logo, to place former EE offensive winger Chris Morris in the office of the president and CEO, right next to his name, adjacent to the wall of honor and surrounding the Federal Stadium.

Morris’ first step was to bring teammates and Grey Cup champion Ed Hervey back to Edmonton as the second in office as general manager, after he first led to the club’s recent Grey Cup title in 2015.

The main goal is not necessarily to get alumni back on the boat completely, but it is undoubtedly a beneficial by-product.

“Ownership, this is the domino that really needs to be realized,” said Jed Roberts, alumni spokesperson.

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“With this club, the foundation has not been good for a long time. For a variety of different reasons. It’s all semantic at the moment.”

The most important thing is that changes need to happen. Under the guidance of the board, the formats owned by an outdated community no longer generate any momentum to move forward. Funds are drying up. Interest is waning and everyone is suffering – from fans to players to alumni, the alumni’s own work in the community has not made the decline slides the team takes any easier.

After all, everyone can fall behind the winner. So, it’s as much a credit to the entire city as it is the alumni that they have been able to continue supporting not just minor football, but a list of programs as long as a Canadian football field, including: Boys and Girls Clubs Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Canadian Red Cross, WIN House, YMCA Strong Kids Campaign, Kids Kottage, Zebra Child Protection Centre and the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre, to name a few. There is also a player support fund.

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Most of their financial support comes from two annual fundraisers, the Jackie Parker Memorial Golf Classic in the Fall and the EE Alumni’s annual Wine Theatre, held on May 3 at the Legend Club at Commonwealth Stadium to meet and say hello to former players. (Tickets are $60 and can be found at www.eefootballallumni.ca).

If fans need odd glass or two stings of 22 consecutive household losses, they can forgive.

But the horizon is far from dismal. Although the team missed the playoffs for the fourth time in a row, they finally showed signs of life last year, winning five of six games after a 0-7 start, easily leaving them dead in the water for the rest of the time.

With a promising young emerging head coach at Mark Kilam, himself a Golden Bear Football Alumni U, you can get some welcome at the end of a long tunnel.

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If indeed all the signs are pointed out, then this is an important reason for this is the focus of how to go back in the past how the Commonwealth revolves around 14 grey cups and five-inch champions.

There is no doubt that there is still a legacy here.

“It’s great to have Larry join, just like the way he respects the brand and tradition, some people might call it a mystery,” Roberts said. “It’s something you can’t buy, and it’s an alumni we announced on the board.

“Why are you so eager to get out of tradition when you have an expansion team that will kill that? You take it for granted. There is a way to blend the two, you can move forward with a new brand without giving up on your stuff, what is it for you, right?”

Email: godejong@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @gerrymoddejonge

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