It’s a Friday night in October and about 40 high school football players stand lining the end zone as the Argos slowly begin trickling onto the field to warm up ahead of a key game with the Hamilton Tiger Cats.

“Alright guys, here come the early birds,” the Argos Director of Education and Community Programs Jason Colero tells the players as a group of receivers step onto the field and start running routes.

Colero has been with the franchise for 29 years, starting out as a water boy in his final year of high school before moving on to serve as assistant equipment manager and then joining the front office.

Though you may not necessarily think of Colero as being on the front lines in terms of marketing the Argos to a wider audience, in truth few have as large a role to play as he does.

The franchise regularly loses money, so it can’t necessarily spend with the big boys when it comes to things like advertising and must instead focus on building a fan base through grassroots programs that integrate Argo players into the wider community.

To that end the Argos have three major community programs, each with a slightly different mandate.

Huddle Up sees members of the team visit local schools and encourages students to stop bullying in their community; while Argo-Cise sees the players lead workouts and preach the value of healthy living.

Meanwhile, Level the Playing Field has seen the Argos help fund the creation of about 11 high school football teams since 2009 and then support those teams with mentorship from players and staff.

“We are getting people to know and follow the sport and that’s key,” Colero says of the Argos community involvement in an interview with CP24.com. “When I go to the schools I hear them say ‘great game the other day.’ That’s what you want. These kids are talking about the Argos.”

The players gathered in the end zone tonight are all members of the Runnymede Collegiate Ravens, a team reborn after a 30-year absence on the gridiron thanks to funding through the Level the Playing Field program.

The team recently got a shoutout from Argos slotback Andre Durie during the television broadcast of a game and tonight Durie takes a brief break to dole out a few high-fives to the players.

“When Andre said ‘Hey Runnymede, welcome back to football’ we all went crazy. It just felt so personal,” Grade 11 player Donovan Hayden tells CP24.com. “I mean how can you not be a CFL fan when we are on the field, meeting players and Argos are giving us shout-outs during games?”

“These players are already talking to me and saying ‘I watched the game the other day and I saw Andrie score’ or ‘I saw this’ or ‘I saw that.’ That may not have happened before we did this program, but now they are tuning in,” Colero adds. “That’s the first step and now as they get older the hope is that they continue their loyalty.”

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