Sue-Anne Crocker (second row, fourth from the right) helped organize tickets for over 180 (more than a full section) for parents, friends, fans, and even former Raiders to watch the action in Vancouver. (Nick Nielsen/paNOW Staff)

By Nick Nielsen

Over 180 Raiders fans travel to game in Vancouver

Four years of rewarding experiences for Sue-Anne Crocker as a parent in the Raiders organization

Oct 21, 2024 | 1:46 PM

While Saturday’s game for the Prince Albert Raiders in Vancouver is one that the team is going to want to forget as soon as possible, the experience off the ice is one that Sue-Anne Crocker, mother of assistant captain Niall Crocker, is going to remember as a long time. With Niall being the longest tenured Raider now in his fourth season, Sue-Anne has enjoyed being a part of the Raiders family and she’s found it to be a rewarding experience.

With five players all born in B.C., including Crocker, Sue-Anne helped organize over 180 fans to come to the game against the Vancouver Giants. This is the second time she’s helped organize a large crowd for the Raiders in B.C., and she said it gives the parents a great opportunity to connect just like the players do on the road.

“So about two years ago, I organized a lot of tickets. I brought my whole soccer team and their families, and then I brought all our childhood, family and friends and all the family, and so I sold about like 140 tickets. So this year, I went back to the Giants and they were really good to us, gave us great deals like last time, and I said, ‘I think there’s going to be more people this time’ and I have a whole section.”

Section N of the Langley Events Centre was full of Raider fans during Saturday’s game. (Photo submitted/Sue-Anne Crocker.)

Because of the effort, section N of the Langley Events Centre was almost entirely all Raiders fans during the Saturday game including former Raider Carson Latimer. Crocker said she enjoys bringing families from around the team together to get a rare chance to get to know each other outside of a shared group text.

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“As the longest standing parent on the team with Niall, I’ve met a lot of people over the years but I don’t know any of the rookies and their parents, so it’s been really fun with the WhatsApp chat to just send photos. Kristi Oiring has been sending pictures from the ferry with the boys and sharing pictures, and parents are meeting up and saying ‘let’s go here or there’, so it’s super fun.”

While most of the people organized in the group Crocker put together were parents and family friends of the players, there were some dedicated fans who made the 19-hour trek from Prince Albert to Vancouver to follow the team on their journey, and even some following the team through all five games in B.C. Crocker said that seeing such a dedicated fan base to the team her son plays for has been humbling over the years.

“What’s awesome is in 2019 when Niall got drafted and we were standing in the Langley Events Centre watching the game, people heard that I was Niall’s mom back then. Niall was 14 and they came up to me and those same people will come up to me every time I’m in Prince Albert and we always talk. Timothy, who runs the Raider’s Fan Page, he’s here, he’s been following them with his friend and I just think it’s absolutely amazing.”

For Sue-Anne, there isn’t another organization she would have rather seen her son go now that she’s experienced what it has been like to be a part of the Prince Albert Raiders family. While she’s been happy to see her son earn opportunities to attend an NHL camp with the Ottawa Senators and now be named an assistant captain for the team, it’s the promises that were made about the community and organization that mean the most to her.

“I’m so proud of him. I just have to say when Curtis Hunt came to us when Niall was 14 years old and he was drafted and wanted to sign him, that he made me a couple of promises. That he was going to ensure Niall was happy and on a good team that had good people around him and he’s never let me down and I’m so happy and thankful to the Prince Albert Raiders and every single person in the organization. The billet families, I think are the best in the league and I know I’m biased because I’ve never had anything else but all I’ve ever seen is just wonderful people.”

Sue-Anne continued on about the billets and the unique relationship they share with Niall’s family so far away. It’s given Niall the opportunity to be an older brother to Tyler and Cara Kuzma’s boys, and Sue-Anne has seen that extended family become a great connection in their lives that lasts well beyond just the season.

“Niall’s an only child, and so he’s been with them since his 16-year-old year, and the billet brothers were five and eight at the time, and it’s just been so fun to watch them grow, and they love Niall so much and they miss him when he’s gone and they FaceTime and they text each other, the parents and Niall. It’s just so wonderful for me to watch that relationship and see them. We know when they get their pets, I’m part of that and I get videos with the cats and the dogs too, and they’ve let me stay with them and they even let my friends and Niall’s friends stay with them when we come to visit. It’s like they’re family for sure.”

The Raiders have seen their ups and down over the years since Niall has been a part of the team, but the experience over the last four years is exactly what Sue-Anne hoped for her son when he took his first step into Prince Albert. While earlier she shared praises for Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt, she also believes the coaching staff has had a major impact on Niall’s growth into the man he’s become today.

“The best thing for me was when Jeff Truitt became coach. That was at the point in my time as a parent that I just sat back and just let the show go without any worries or qualms and he’s such a good person and such a great example to everybody. Any worries that I’d had prior to him were just disappeared. When I came, when (Niall was) 15-16, they talked about the ‘Raiders way’ and it is so meaningful to me, and every year I go back and listen to that Raiders way talk and they live it. There’s no differences among the teammates. People are there for each other no matter what age you are, you’re not allowed to treat other people differently. You have to be respectful. You have to be community-oriented and helpful, and it means everything to me as a mother. That is why I wanted my son to do this, and so I’m just so thrilled that he got on this team and that he’s still here.”

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Nick.nielsen@pattisonmedia.com