The supporters of Rouge et Or football have not lost their enthusiasm. Equipped with barbecues, coolers and bean bag games, the most avid showed up seven hours before the opening game against Sherbrooke, yesterday, to relive the atmosphere of a tail gatea first since the start of the pandemic.
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Even if the number of followers did not compare to those of the years of championships against the sworn enemy, the Carabins of Montreal, the regulars did not want to miss this appointment embellished by the smell of grilled meat and the sun. .
“We were impatiently waiting for that,” says Édith Giroux from Beauport, who has held season tickets since the beginnings of the Rouge & Or. “I said to myself: if there aren’t any this year, I don’t know ‘we do. We had to get back to normal. »
Even before the Telus Stadium parking lots opened for the pre-game party at noon, Raynald Légaré was waiting to settle in the same place as usual, more than two years ago.
“Everyone knows each other and positions themselves in strategic places”, explains the one who was part of the legendary Booster Club, the supporters of the Rouge et Or who made it rain or shine with the yellow mascot of the masked marvel.
Reconnect with friends
For many, the Rouge et Or pre-game tailgate is a unique opportunity to socialize and talk about sports with friends and acquaintances.
Stéphane Samson and Daniel Simard from Quebec are regulars. “Even when we had to shovel a snow bank to get a place in the parking lot, in the playoffs, we were there,” they mention. “We haven’t missed many in 15 years. We are happy to see the world we meet here again, ”they add.
For brother and sister Jocelyn and Anne-Julie Trottier of Lévis, the return of the pre-game festivities is even an opportunity to mark the departure of their father, a regular at Rouge et Or games.
“We have a lot of fun being together, parents and friends,” they explain while pointing to a chair where a beer is symbolically installed in the pocket for the deceased.
Back home
The Rouge et Or matches are also an opportunity to return home by displaying the colors of the opposing camp. Now students in Sherbrooke, Charlotte Roulotte and Camille Crépeau were back home with two pockets of corn to feed twenty people.
“We are really happy. We are with the people we love. »