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Free ‘mountain lion’ shirts for first 10K fans at BC Lions’ 3rd Orange Shirt Day Game

CFL team says ‘it is important to broaden our own understanding of the painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools’
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BC Lions reps, sponsors and special guests at an Orange Shirt Day Game launch event Tuesday, Sept. 19, at the CFL team’s training facility in Surrey. (Contributed photo)

The BC Lions’ third annual Orange Shirt Day Game will involve special warmup jerseys to be raffled off in support of Orange Shirt Society and Indian Residential Schools Survivors’ Society (IRSSS).

The CFL team will also give 750 free game tickets to residential school survivors and their families, and present a $20,000 cheque to Orange Shirt Society.

On Friday, Sept. 29, the Lions play host to Saskatchewan Roughriders at BC Place Stadium starting at 7:30 p.m.

The next night, on Saturday, Sept. 30, Vancouver Whitecaps FC will have their own Orange Shirt Day soccer game there against D.C. United, also a 7:30 p.m. start.

For the Lions’ football game, the first 10,000 fans through the gates will receive free orange shirts with the translation of the words ‘mountain lion’ in the Squamish and hənqəminəm (Musqueam and Tseil-Waututh) languages.

Performers will include Canadian electronic duo The Halluci Nation (at halftime) and DJ Oshow (pre-game), and an Indigenous Marketplace will be presented by Destination Indigenous.

Details of this year’s Orange Shirt Day Game were revealed Tuesday (Sept. 19) at the team’s training facility in Surrey.

The special game salutes Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday held Sept. 30. Presenting sponsors are Fortis BC, Pomerleau Construction and Leavitt Machinery.

Jamie Taras, the Lions’ director of community partnerships, said the team is proud to host the Orange Shirt Day game for a third year, “to show our support on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and to also join the entire Canadian Football League in honouring this important day on the calendar.

“As an organization, we feel it is important to broaden our own understanding of the painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools, to raise awareness with our fans and to continue to build strong relationships within the Indigenous community.”

• RELATED STORY/PHOTOS: In Surrey, Indigenous teens learn flag football, life skills from BC Lions players.



Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news for Surrey Now-Leader and Black Press Media
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