By Evan Armstrong and Troy Gillard

Autistic football fan enjoys big day with Hunting Hills bantams

Sep 27, 2018 | 4:50 PM

A young football fan had a pretty special day last weekend.

Eleven-year-old Gabriel Eyers was watching football with his mom and a family friend at Great Chief Park on Saturday.  

Gabriel has Autism and because he has sensory issues and finds loud noises difficult to deal with, he wears headphones.

“He enjoyed Saturday so much I don’t even think he noticed the noise except maybe the guy in the bleachers with the fog horn,” joked his mom, Jeanine.

“Gabriel was pumped right up when he saw the field, and he wanted to start running right away when we got there,” said Shelley Castor, the family friend. “I said Gabriel, the coach is watching you; we’ll let you run the field when the game is over.”

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When the game they were watching finished, the Hunting Hills bantams were about to start their own game. That’s when Shelley tried to make Gabriel’s day even more exciting.

“I went up to the team and said ‘Hey, I promised Gabriel that he would run on the field, but I noticed you guys lining up, would he be able to run with you guys?’ They said ‘We don’t think there’d be a problem, but let us talk to our coach.’

“The coach came over and said ‘Hey, no problem, we’ll have him at the front of the line holding the flag with the other flag holder.’”

Jeanine says everyone on the team was great about the whole thing.

“They made eye contact, they didn’t ask what was wrong with him, they just started talking to him and asking him questions. Even the coach asked him ‘Are you a defenseman or are you a quarterback’ and he said I’m a quarterback.

“He usually needs a lot of direction, but once he was in the mix with those guys he actually spent most of the time on the other side of the field from me, which isn’t normal.”

At the end of the Gabriel’s time with the team, one of the players brought him around and told Shelley and Jeanine how awesome Gabriel did.

“I can’t thank Hunting Hills enough for what they did for Gabriel. Not once did they ask what was wrong with him, they made him part of the team, put a smile on his face ear to ear, and there was no bullying,” Castor noted.

“It really makes you reflect about coaching; it really brings back to mind what you’re there for. It’s not the wins, it’s not the losses, it’s about the character building,” says Hunting Hills coach Josh Sorensen.

“One thing that we try to take a lot of pride in as a program is building young men, and building men of character.”

Sorenson says he loves watching how sport works in the lives of his players, and how it shapes them into kind and compassionate citizens.

The Lightning are planning to give Gabriel his very own jersey signed by the team.