“They inspire me. It makes me want to be like them,” says Émile Giguère, a young 11-year-old football player, just before meeting the players from the Alouettes and the Montreal Carabins.

The young man waits patiently in line with his best friend, Arthur Brault, football in his hands. The two friends are among a few dozen people who came to see the Gray Cup and the Vanier Cup at the Henri-Bourassa Park pavilion, in Montreal North, on Tuesday evening.

“It’s still something,” says the friendly Arthur. It’s Montreal; we are 2 million inhabitants compared to next door where there are perhaps 30 million! There are 2 million of us and we can beat everyone! It’s still amazing ! »

You had to see the crowd chanting “ohé, ohé, ohé!” ”, fists in the air, as if the Gray Cup had just been won before their eyes. Or the young boy of just a few years old who, with his blue Carabins hoodie on his back, gently let his hand slide over the Vanier Cup after taking a photo with the players.

“In Montreal North, we know that it can be more disadvantaged, so to have the chance to meet young people, to show them how believing in your dream can pay off… We were in their place a long time ago several years. Just to show that it’s achievable if you believe in yourself, that you put in the effort… Just that, for us, it’s magical,” linebacker Frédéric Chagnon told La Presse.

Among the Alouettes, the idea of ​​bringing the big trophy to Montréal-Nord came from the director of player personnel, Jean-Marc Edmé, himself a native of the borough. “When we won the Gray Cup, when I was on the field under the confetti, my first thought was: I want to bring it to Montreal North,” he tells us.

When he was about to contact the mayor, municipal councilor Chantal Rossi reached him on the phone. The event was quickly organized.

“It’s a lot of emotion,” he continues. I come from here and, sometimes, there is more negative than positive happening in Montreal North. By being here with the two cups, we are making Montreal North shine and we are showing that with sport, we can do great things. That’s the point. [That] and to motivate young people to continue playing sports, to stay in school. »

Of the six Carabins players present, four were from Montreal North. From the lot, Eduardo-Benjamin Sreng-Flores.

” It’s crazy ! exclaims the latter. In 2014, I was with the Béliers and there was a coach who came with the Vanier Cup. We had a ceremony, it was really fun and inspiring. […] For me, it’s been a goal since high school, to play university, to perform. »

According to Carabins coach Marco Iadeluca, the presence of players from Montreal North has the potential to inspire all these young footballers present Tuesday evening.

Cédrick Ketant, 14 years old and player for the Calixa-Lavallée Spartans, was one of them. “It gives the message that if you want to have what you want, you have to work hard like them,” he notes. The Alouettes, no one believed in them, but they still succeeded. »

The image was strong, Tuesday evening, between the walls of the Henri-Bourassa park pavilion. Between the dozens of young football players (the Béliers from the Henri-Bourassa school, the Louves et Loups du Nord, the Spartans from the Calixa-Lavllée school and the Cégep du Vieux Montréal) and the players from the Alouettes and the Carabins , one fact stood out: football is healthy in Quebec.

“There is a lot of potential in Quebec, in Montreal North too,” believes Sreng-Flores. It is worth putting establishments and efforts into the development of young people in Montreal North and in Montreal in general. »

According to Alouettes long throw specialist Louis-Philippe Bourassa, Quebec football “is in the best place it has ever been.”

“[These two conquests are] just a statement of the quality of football, of the players we bring out in Quebec at all levels,” he continues. There are more and more people who succeed in breaking into the NFL. In American university programs too. Before, we didn’t see that. Football in Quebec is very healthy.

“If we compare [our programs] with the rest of Canada, I think we have nothing to envy. We are even at the head of the pack. »