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Roughriders announce Grey Cup leadership group

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced the leadership group overseeing the planning of the Grey Cup 2020 Festival and 108th Grey Cup game.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced the leadership group overseeing the planning of the Grey Cup 2020 Festival and 108th Grey Cup game.

Chair of the Roughriders Board of Directors Randy Beattie and Saskatchewan Roughriders President and CEO Craig Reynolds will co-chair the event.

“After being part of the planning and execution of Grey Cups in 2003 and 2013, I’m pleased to co-chair the 108th Grey Cup with Roughriders President and CEO Craig Reynolds,” Beattie said. “Saskatchewan has hosted some of the most successful and most exciting Grey Cup events the CFL has seen and with the help of the best volunteer base in Canada we aim to continue that legacy in 2020.”

Two leadership committees will support the planning and execution of the event: The Operations Committee and the Grey Cup 2020 Volunteer Festival Committee.

The Operations Committee is chaired by Roughriders Chief Financial Officer Kent Paul and will look after marketing, stadium operations, game day operations, communications, ticketing, retail, partnerships, finance and IT.

Darren Anaka is the chair of the Grey Cup 2020 Volunteer Festival Committee which will lead the planning of festival events, as well as transportation and logistics, volunteers, safety and security, provincial outreach and the 2020 legacy project.

Anaka, along with his wife Donna and two children, are part of a successful family business that operate several DQs and Starbucks locations. Anaka has an equally successful history in volunteerism highlighted with key leadership roles on the organizing committees of the 2010 World Junior Hockey Championships and 2013 Grey Cup.

After an extensive search, the Roughriders have named Mike Edwards as the Executive Director of the 2020 Grey Cup.

Edwards brings a broad background in organizing major sporting events including three FIFA World Cups, the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, the Canada Games, Red Bull Crashed Ice, World Triathlon Series and the Special Olympics Canada Games. Edwards earned an honours degree in Sports Management from Brock University before going on to get a post-graduate diploma in Sport and Event Marketing.

“Solidifying our leadership group is a positive step forward in our planning for the Grey Cup,” said Reynolds. “With the personnel we have in place, alongside world-class facilities, a hardworking group of volunteers and the best fanbase in the CFL we know we have the winning combination to make the 108th Grey Cup a tremendous success.”

The Club has also recruited an Oversight Committee consisting of representatives from the Canadian Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughrider Football Club, the province, the city, and Evraz Place. This committee will ensure the 2020 Grey Cup in Saskatchewan unites the entire Province in the celebration of Canadian football culminating in the single biggest sports day in Canada on November 22, 2020.