This is the second in a three-part series examining the history and success of the North Winnipeg Nomads Football Club. We continue with Dennis Radlinsky, a Nomads alum who started playing for the club in the 80s, and later gave back as a coach. Click hereto read part one. 

Long-time Nomads president Don Van Achte left a permanent mark on the lives of many football players over the years. One of those men was Dennis Radlinsky, who fondly recalls his under-age bantam years in the green and yellow in the early 1980s. Playing football exposed him to teammates and coaches from different areas of the North End, where he formed critical bonds. 

“North Winnipeg is very big, and I got to know people from Garden City and from Luxton and I was from West Kildonan. I got to know some amazing young men. Jayson Dzikowicz and I were teammates in the 80’s, and he was a lot of fun to play with,” recalled Radlinsky, who was a difference-maker on the offensive line.  

“Don Van Achte was my first coach. He made a profound impact on my life. He went to my wedding, and has been intertwined in my football life since day one.”

To both North End residents, football was much more than a game. It was a place where friends became brothers and coaches became family, all united in their pursuit of excellence, and to represent their community with pride.    

“Being 13 years old and riding my bike, I didn’t know anybody. I was just an oversized 13-year old and these veterans welcomed someone who could help the team. They knew I played football before they knew my name. They just embraced you for whatever raw ability you could bring to make the game better,” noted Radlinsky. 

“It was natural for us. We didn’t have to reinvent ourselves when we played, we were all meant to be together. Everybody rode their bike to practice, and they worked us pretty hard. We kind of felt like we were built different.”

Radlinsky’s time with the Nomads prepared him for success in the game later on in life. He played two years of midget football for the St. Boniface Warriors between 1986-87, and in the spring of 1987 made the first-ever provincial team. This was back when the midget league “was the bomb,” according to Radlinsky, and had eight teams. 

Afterwards, the offensive lineman spent a year playing in Minnesota, and then returned home for four years with the Winnipeg Hawkeyes as a starting right guard. Following this, he spent four years with the University of Manitoba, where he started at right tackle. He then played ten years of senior ball, winning the Canadian title on multiple occasions.  

‘You were playing junior in the north end, you can kind of figure out the rest’

Radlinsky’s time playing for the Winnipeg Hawkeyes stands out. The team took the place of the Weston Wildcats in the Manitoba-Saskatchewan Junior Football League in 1970, filling a void for young adults in the North End community. 

In 1976, the Hawkeyes became one of four teams that formed the Manitoba Junior Football Conference, alongside the St. Vital Mustangs, Fort Garry Lions and Winnipeg Rods. They developed a solid rivalry with the Mustangs throughout the 1980s, with the teams meeting in the conference final on seven different occasions, with the Hawkeyes earning four victories. 

In terms of wins and losses, the highlight of Radlinsky’s time with the Hawkeyes came in 1989, where the squad – who went 7-0-1 – won the conference title, and then bested Okanagan – the storied BC junior club who were 8-0 – by a score of 19-10 in the western semi-final at home. It was the first out of province victory for the conference in a number of years, and came over an Okanagan team that were the defending Canadian Junior Football League national champs. 

The Hawkeyes’ identity came through their power run game, with the help of bruising linemen such as Radlinsky, along with powerhouse back Mike Connor, who finished the contest with 36 carries for 187 yards on a windy day. Winnipeg’s defence also forced five turnovers, including an interception by Garfield Thompson at the Hawkeyes’ 19 with the squad up 16-10. 

“In ’89 our coaching staff was [Grey Cup champion] Paul Bennett, [two-time Grey Cup champ] Dan Huclack, [CFL All-Star] Bobby Thompson and [Grey Cup champ] Willard Reaves,” recalled Radlinsky.

“Instinctively, we thought of ourselves as a bit of an island. We were the north side guys. We had dozens of players from Lockport and Selkirk and Warren and north of portage. That north end identity permeated through all of us the minute you put on the hawk.”

The team’s logo was stylized as a thunderbird, giving the group a “First Nations” vibe, which they embraced, as did the fans. 

“We backed onto Manitoba housing. The people loved us. They embraced us like a pro team,” noted Radlinsky.

“The place was packed. There were no gaps in our lineup. Every guy was a beast. I was only 19 years old when I came in, and there was no feeling out process. You were thrown in there and there were guys who would test you. You were playing junior in the north end. You can kind of figure out the rest.”

By 1995, the Manitoba Junior Conference was no more. The Hawkeyes played in the CJFL’s Prairie Football Conference in 1996, but folded a year later. The club gave back to the north end, as the Nomads moved to their former clubhouse in 1997, where they’ve remained to this day. They also supplied North Winnipeg with helmets and shoulder pads, and in 2013, the facility’s main field was renamed in honour of Markus Howell, a former Hawkeye who won a Grey Cup in 2008 with Calgary.  

‘A branded Nomad’

Five years later, Radlinsky returned home, after being convinced by then president Don McPherson to head up the major junior program. 

“I had never been a head coach before,” he says. 

“I started in 2002 with a three-person staff and a manager. [McPherson] buttered me up pretty good. I was called ‘a branded Nomad,’ which was really important. A lot of people walk away from that label the higher they get, and I never did that. I was always a branded Nomad. I thought you know what, let’s do it. The first year we had 19 kids and the second year we had 24. Then we started to build a little bit of momentum. We made the playoffs 14 consecutive years. The year we did not make the playoffs was the year we folded in 2016.”

Under the guidance of Radlinsky, the Nomads won the major junior championship in 2008 and 2009, while advancing to the finals four straight years. 

“The standard formula for major league success is recruiting. What we did is we promoted that we were one hundred percent north end players. It was tough at first, and then we started getting 40, 50, 60 guys to training camp,” he says. 

“Our philosophy was that we would only reach out of district out of deep necessity. We wanted to be a strong community team. Our club program was thriving. Our midget teams at the time were consistently high performers, and Sisler, Maples and Tec Voc at the time were all producing consistently amazing athletes.”

Throughout the years of success, Radlinsky was quick to remind his players about the 19 athletes who showed up in year one. They set the standard for dedication which remained for many years.

“We used to tell the guys that came out to remember the 19 in 2002, the guys that came out every day and played both ways. We had some history that was really compelling. That was important for the guys in the championship years to know. There were guys that came after hockey practice or came after work and brought their kids. They laid the foundation.”

Stay tuned for part three, where former Nomads president Jeffrey Bannon discusses the legacy of the club to this day, and the impact North Winnipeg has had on him and many others who are thriving at all levels of football in the province.