Like the NFL counterpart with which they share a name, along with an eye patch on their logo buccaneer’s face, the Vancouver Island Raiders have always exuded a swashbuckling outsider vibe in winning nine B.C. and three Canadian junior football championships in 14 years.
And that ethic is not headed anywhere else.
The Nanaimo-based defending B.C. Football Conference champions say they are staying put, contrary to rumours the team has described as “malicious.”
“Let me be very clear, the VI Raiders are not moving anywhere,” Raiders president Kabel Atwall said in a statement sent to Island media late Wednesday.
“The Raider program is strongly imbedded in the city of Nanaimo and surrounding areas. Our commitment to the city, our fans, our players and parents, and sponsors is very strong and the team has no intention of folding or relocating. The Raiders have been a part of the sporting and cultural fabric on the mid-Island for 14 years now and we plan to stay in that fabric for a very long time in the future.”
Atwall added: “I am extremely disappointed that we, as a team, have to address these types of rumours and innuendoes put out by people with their own agenda.”
Reached by phone, Atwall said the team is “sick and tired of hearing about the rumours” and wanted to “nip them in the bud.”
“We are going to be in Nanaimo a long, long time,” he added.
The Raiders defeated the 2016-champion Westshore Rebels in the all-Island 2017 BCFC final last fall at Westhills Stadium in Langford.
The Raiders, who have six alumni in the CFL, open the 2018 season Aug. 5 in the Fraser Valley against the Huskers. The home opener at Caledonia Park is Aug. 11 against the Kamloops Broncos.
