A Prince Albert River Rider fights off a tackle during a game against the Clavet Cougars at Max Clunie Field on Sept. 24, 2023. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Minor Football

Season at risk for River Riders as registration numbers lower than past years: PAMF

Aug 1, 2025 | 1:05 PM

The president of Prince Albert Minor Football (PAMF) says they’re about halfway to being able to field a team in both the peewee and bantam divisions this upcoming fall season.

However, time is running out for the organization as the deadline to submit rosters is looming.

“The registration numbers are a little low compared to what we’re expecting for this year compared to what we have experienced in the past at this point,” explained President Taras Kachkowski. “We just want to make sure that we’ve got enough players in our peewee and bantam divisions.”

The peewee River Riders play 9-man football and need around 25-30 players to field a team, while the bantams play 12-man and need upwards of 40 players. Both are members of the Kinsmen Football League (KFL) out of Saskatoon, which they have been a part of since 2007. The team has seen some recent success as in 2022, the bantam River Riders won the city’s first KFL championship after a historic undefeated season.

The bantam River Riders celebrate their historic undefeated season with a photo after defeating the Saskatoon Raiders 7-6 in the league final. Many of the players seen in this photo went on to play high school in Prince Albert, with the majority winning provincial gold with Carlton in November 2024. (Submitted photo/Jeremiah Morrison)

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It’s also a turning point for the sport, not just in Prince Albert, but in Saskatchewan as well, with the renovation of Max Clunie Field last year and the recent success of the Roughriders in the CFL this season.

Kachkowski said this is the first time in over a decade that they are at risk of not fielding a team.

“We haven’t had to kind of scramble to fill our rosters, probably since the earlier years of our program. It’s kind of puzzling that the numbers aren’t quite there yet and a little bit frustrating to see the lower numbers. We’re coming off a landmark year for football in Prince Albert.”

He added that since the creation of PAMF, other programs and organizations have popped up in the city and around the province giving kids opportunities to try new sports, which could be a contributing factor to the low registration numbers. However, he said the numbers in the lower age groups remain strong so the future of the peewee and bantam divisions are not in jeopardy.

“Fortunately, our atom numbers are actually reasonably strong for that program. So that tells me that there’s kids still coming up that will want to play football at that level.”

In an effort to boost numbers, Kachkowski said PAMF is offering discounted fees for registration, dropping from $350 down to $275 until Aug. 8.

“We’ve always prided ourselves on having very affordable fees compared to a lot of other programs in sports. For the registration fee, compared to a lot of other programs, we believe, is a very reasonable affordable registration fee. The other thing that makes our sport surprisingly more affordable than a lot of people think is we actually provide the vast majority of the equipment that you need. So instead of families having to purchase more equipment, we actually provide it.”

With that, there is a $300 equipment deposit that is required, but if all the equipment is returned with nothing missing or broken, then the deposit is returned in full.

Dropoff for fees and equipment pickup will be on Sunday, Aug. 17 and the first practice of the season will be the following day on Monday, Aug. 18 at the River Riders practice field next to Crescent Heights Arena on Branion Drive. A season schedule will be announced at a later date.

For more information about Prince Albert Minor Football and their River Rider programs, along with how to register for the upcoming fall season, click here.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

On Bluesky: @loganlehmann.bsky.social