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The Grande Prairie Warriors inspired many people in the wake of a car accident that took the lives of four players, Walter Borden-Wilkens, Matthew Deller, Tanner Hildebrand and Vincent Stover, and critically injured another, Zach Judd. But the Warriors’ path has had many ups and downs since October 22, the day of the accident.
The Warriors continued to play in honour of their fallen teammates and won the Peace Division Championship before losing to the Bev Facey Falcons in the provincial quarterfinal. Like their school principal and coach Rick Gilson, the players were often at the centre of attention. Their photos appeared on the front page of major newspapers; national sports channels covered their journey through the playoffs and ran feature stories on them.
The Edmonton Eskimos, who had been wearing a decal of the Warrior logo on their helmets since the accident, went all out to support the team. The weekend the Warriors were in Edmonton to play the Falcons, the Esks invited the Warriors to practise with them and then join them for lunch. The Esks put them up in a hotel on Saturday night and gave them tickets so the Warriors could stay in Edmonton for the Eskimo playoff game.
While the outpouring of support has helped the team and spawned what Gilson describes as a “reciprocal synergy” between the team and the school community, he acknowledged that the team has had moments of guilt for their good fortune that resulted from the tragic deaths of their teammates. Gilson’s son, who plays cornerback on the team, mentioned this to his father. He let them know it was okay to enjoy the good that was coming out of the accident and that they should continue to be humbly honoured by the recognition and the support received.
To say it has been a rollercoaster ride for the Warriors would be an understatement, but for Gilson, he saw a noticeable change the weekend his team spent in the company of the Edmonton Eskimos.
“That event in the Esks’ practice centre was great. It was the first time in three weeks that you saw sustained laughter and smiles … the light back in their eyes,” said Gilson of his Warriors. “Everything was, ‘We need to fight on. We need to keep going.’”
