This past weekend, the St. James RODS peewee squad won the MMFA Championship, scoring over 50 points in a back-and-forth thriller against Fort Garry that was as close as 14 late in the fourth. The victory capped off an incredible run from the core of the RODS group, who also who a championship with a perfect record at the atoms seven level a few years back.

Even more impressive is the run of QB1.

The team’s starting quarterback Blake Dagg – named game MVP for St. James – never lost at the minor
level, going 31-0. The only two games the RODS didn’t win came last year when Dagg had a fractured
growth plate in his foot. They tied the regular season finale and then lost in the semi-finals.

The mature pivot, who’s weighing his options but is leaning towards Oak Park as his school of choice,
was blessed with incredible mentors as coaches. Included is his dad Brian, the head coach, while his
coordinator was Bisons football legend Alex Christie.

‘It’s about building more than better football players’

For those unaware, Christie holds the program record for career blocked kicks – two of which came in the final game of the 2014 regular season against No. 2 nationally ranked Calgary.

Manitoba, without starting quarterback Jordan Yantz, needed a win to get into the playoffs, and Christie helped them accomplish that. The team went on to win the Hardy Cup, once again beating Calgary.

Christie has an economics degree from UM, and the 30-year-old currently works at Arthur J. Gallagher
(AJG) Insurance and Risk Management. It’s there that he met and befriended 36-year-old Brian Dagg,
the Senior Vice President of Commercial Sales and Cyber Liability for AJG, and also Blake’s dad.

“You can imagine how we spend most of our days,” joked Christie. “We actually game plan all day.”

Brian never played football. But he’s always been a fan of the game, and he and Blake bonded over the
sport. That eventually led to the RODS, where Brian has been a coach for the last seven years, as well as
Past President.

Alex, who’s been involved in football for 24 of his years on earth, has been there for six.

“Football’s always just been my favourite sport. I’m just a super fan, kind of a nerd. My daughter’s name
is Madden,” admitted Brian.

“I don’t even remember how we got Blake into it. I think we just said hey, let’s play football and off we
went. I’ve always been one to give back to my community. I’m young, I’m only 36, Alex is 30. We’ve both always given back. I’ve been with the RODS from day one. We’ve put our blood, sweat and tears into this. I’m an emotional guy, so there’s been some tears and there’s definitely been blood and sweat. It’s
all been worth it.”

The RODS have been running a Bisons-style playbook for the last three years. It’s sophisticated, and includes option plays on offence. Everyone has to execute but none more than the pivot, who has to
read the defence pre and post-snap and make judgement calls based on what the defence is running.

“We’re the only run-option team I’ve seen in minor football,” says Brian.

“We coach our core group ten months of the year. We’ve had that success for a long time. They come,
they’re willing to listen and to learn and they deal with our criticism. I told this to the kids yesterday. It’s
about way more than building better football players. It’s about building better athletes and human beings and bringing that work ethic to the table. Our core group really owns that.”

“It starts with the quarterback,” added Christie.

“I spend a lot of time with Brian inside and outside of work. I’ve grown that relationship with Blake as
well. He’s a very smart football player and he was able to figure out what I was trying to put down.
Football is football once it comes down to it. He was a quick learner, he picked it up great.”

Christie thinks Blake has the skill to make it as a quarterback or receiver in high school and beyond. He’s got lots of pieces around him as well, including AJ Bangura.

The versatile athlete joined St. James’ program last year after his local club folded, and he made an
immediate difference. A weapon who can line up anywhere on offence, Bangura caught passes, ran
often on jet sweeps and was also the team’s kicker.

“This kid is going to be the next Nic Demski if he keeps his head up and continues to work as hard as he does, and he will,” admits Christie.

“He is an incredible football player. When we ran a jet sweep across the field [in the championship], I’m
pretty sure he shook the defence twice over.”

“Those two are like best friends,” noted Brian of Blake and AJ’s relationship.

“They treat each other like a package deal, the ying to the other’s yang. They’re always talking,
communicating. Those two are a core we’re fortunate to have. I think any program would benefit with
just those two kids alone.”

Now that Brian’s son is moving onto high school, he and Christie’s run looks to be over. Regardless of
what happens next, they’ve helped prepared a solid number of kids for the next level in their football
careers, and led by example.

“I hope we’ve given the kids a positive experience,” mentioned Christie. “When I was playing, I had good
coaches, but they weren’t as fluent in football. I’m hoping I was able to teach these kids something more
than they would get elsewhere, and that that knowledge was able to be passed on.