Rick Klassen  BC Lions

#90 - Defensive Tackle
1981-1987, 1990 - 142 Games

Nickname: "Knuckles"
College: Simon Fraser University
Hometown: Sardis, B.C.

Favorite memory:
I was sitting on the bench in Montreal for the 1985 Grey Cup with two minutes left in the game, looking at my defensive teammates, and being up by two scores with our offence killing the clock and realizing we were going to win the Cup. We all cried together.

Favorite play:
In the 1983 Western Final against Winnipeg at B.C. Place we were at the west end of the field, at the end of the third quarter, second and long for Winnipeg. Tom Clements drops back and scrambled to try and get outside of me and I ran him down at the two-yard line for a big sack in the game. The crowd was deafening and we went on to win the game.
Awards:
1985 - Divisional All-Star


George Chayka BC Lions

A fixture with the BC Lions over the last decade, George has made his mark on a variety of different football and business operations within the organization. During his tenure with the Leos, George has been Director of Marketing and Vice President of both Football and Business Operations. Since 1997, George has directed his focus towards the business side of the Lions organization, from overseeing game day operations and training camp selection to his current responsibility of managing ticket sales and sponsorship.
Prior to the Lions, George attended SFU where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration. While with the Clan, George played running back and defensive back before moving on to coach as a graduate assistant at the school, working with running backs and special teams. After SFU, George worked as a player agent and represented over 40 CFL players from 1982 to1992.

George hails from Sardis, British Columbia
Bernie Cross Washington State Cougars:
Bernie Cross played for the Chilliwack Frontiersman in the mid 1970's and received a scholarship to the Washington State Cougars.Cross had probably had cardio myopathy since he was about 12 years old. He became sick when he was living in foster homes and did not receive medical attention, but his heart condition was diagnosed in 1981 when he was 20 and playing university football for Washington State on a full athletic scholarship.
A doctor was checking out a knee injury when he moved the stethoscope to Cross' heart. That doctor ordered a chest X-ray, which led to an electrocardiogram and the diagnosis of cardio myopathy. Doctors tried to cardio-convert him, but it didn't work, indicating the condition was longstanding. He was given four years to live. Cross, was 19 and he remembers what he terms the ebbing of his strength. "When I was young I used to be so much more dominant. Even now people think I'm strong. Even then I noticed in the intensity of the game I started wearing out. I just thought I was losing my desire or my body's not made for this extreme exercise."
Many in the logging business who worked with Cross in the ensuing years would not agree. The man seemed to be made of steel, he seemed to be Paul Bunyan, winning logging competitions at the Pacific National Exhibition. Bernie passed on December 7th 2003 at the age of 49. He will be missed as a pioneer in the Chilliwack football community.



The 1996 Chilliwack Giants Midget Team. With players like Clint Currie, Stu Vanderheid,Geoff Sache,Mike Dirven, Caleb (the human missile) Jarvis, Nick Knoke, and Darren Sharpe. This team brought the Valley Championship back to Chilliwack for the first time in 25 years.On the championship run they recorded 46 points for per game and had 2.6 points against per game with 7 shutouts and finished 10-0 for the season. They won the V.C.F.L title 24-0 vs Abbotsford.They were coached by Dave Haynes. Ironically Dave was on the last team to bring a Championship to Chilliwack. 
Chilliwack Giants Midget Team
FRASER VALLEY CHAMPIONS 1964
CHILLIWACK FRONTIERSMAN
V.C.F.L CHAMPIONS 1996
The Chilliwack based football team to win a championship. The head coach was Jack Covey who now resides as Vice President of the British Columbia Football Conference. Another notable is a very young Keith Currie (founder of Chilliwack Minor and Valley Jr. Football) pictured on the far right in front of Jack Covey.
Perfect season ends...perfectly they became the first Chilliwack Midget team to win the Provincial title.It's got to be the simplest winning strategy ever, but it worked.
The Chilliwack Giant Blue Midget football team began their 2002 season saying they didn't want anyone else to beat them-and no one did. Indeed, after 18 games undefeated, B.C.'s new provincial champs-Chilliwack's Giants-scored some 560 points and only took 72 against, their coach, Phil Shalay, is proud to report. "They were like a well-oiled machine," he marveled after the Giants faced the Coquitlam Falcons and captured the provincial title in Kelowna Saturday. He's been coaching the same crew for three years now, but many of the players have been together since their flag-football days a decade ago. With a final score of 16-14, the final match was definitely Chilliwack's toughest challenge of the season. It was a close, hard-fought battle from the start, but the Giants opened scoring when kicker Shawn McIsaac scored 14-yard field goal, which Coquitlam hadn't answered by the end of the first quarter. In the second, the Falcons tried a field goal for the 39-yard line and failed. On their next possession, they tried a wide one from the 36-yard line and earned a single point. But McIsaac kicked another field goal before the end of the first half, making the score 6-1 for Chilliwack.
The hundreds of fans who made the trip to Kelowna were on the edge of their seats for the entire third quarter, where Chilliwack's defence really shone, never letting up pressure on the Falcons' talented quarterback, whom Kyle Van Geel sacked twice. "We have the best defence around, and it was their best game of the season," Shalay said.
An extremely close third-down gamble from the five-yard line saw the Falcons take the lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and McIsaac missed from the 42-yard line soon after. The Giants defence were immovable when the Falcons took possession, however. Cale Sanderson stopped the quarterback on their second down, forcing them to punt from their 24-yard line. Giants' punt-returner, Nathan Shalay, broke down the right sidelines for a 60-yard touchdown and after the convert, McIsaac topped off the lead with a 25-yard field goal. But the Falcons weren't done, scoring a touchdown on the very next play. The score was 16-14, and Coquitlam needed a two-point conversion to tie the game, and not much time left. They tried a short, on-side kickoff, which they recovered, but a penalty wiped it out. The Giants recovered their second try, and finally, a Joe Causton interception ended all Coquitlam hopes. "We're going out of our minds," Giants' quarterback-captain, Chris Sas said after the game. "It's been a dream for so long, and to win it in our Grade 12 year is pretty incredible." Sas was particularly proud of the Giants' offensive line, but also gave the strong bonds the Giants spent years building with their success. "We had a lot of unity," he explained, "and we didn't want to lose to anyone."

2002 CHILLIWACK GIANTS
MIDGET PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONS
Quiet moments like this were few and far between for defence captain Cale Sanderson and the rest of Chilliwack's Midget Blue Giants, who have just wrapped up a season of 18 games undefeated and are officially B.C.'s best community football team.