About
B.F.T.A. is the longest-standing volleyabll and slo-pitch team in Yellowknife. Variations of the team are currently active in volleyball, slo-pitch and curling, and teammates can also be found in a variety of other community sport leagues.
Colours & Identity
The team has always adopted gold & black as its colours, with some exceptions. Gray & maroon uniforms were once fielded in the 1980's as a short-lived alternative, and some rare sightings include an iris blue sweatshirt and white ball caps.
The team's B.F.T.A. moniker and/or the famous raven & polar bear are always featured on the team's gear and uniform.
History
B.F.T.A. was founded by Derek McGregor and Tom DeBeyer as a volleyball team in the fall of 1978, and then as a slo-pitch team in the summer of 1979. (The name was suggested by McGregor's girlfriend at the time).
Although only a legend now, the famed slush bucket was a part of the team's slo-pitch season from the start, providing a quenching aid for the team's considerable thirst on the hot, dusty Yellowknife baseball fields.
The only known "published" history, if not accurate, comes from an article in the Yellowknifer dated August 20, 2003, kept safe by Janice Redder Render.
Yellowknifer - Volume 32 issue 45 - Wednesday, August 20, 2003
25 years of slopitch, slush and tradition
BFTA teams celebrate anniversary
by Matt Brown, Northern News Services
As can be expected from a 25-year-old recreational team, there's some debate as to just what the hell its name BFTA stands for.
Some say "Best Fun Team Around." Others - some of the women on the squad - say "Best Female Team."
"It's actually 'best f-ing team around'," says Janice Redder, a middle-aged woman who's been on the team since 1980, before giggling.
Whatever it stands for, BFTA has been kicking - actually batting, curling and volleying, as there is a team in each of these three sports - since around 1977 or 1978.
To celebrate its longevity, former and current members attended a reunion, which, in BFTA tradition, started on the ballfield and ended in the bar. In this case, at the Elk's Hall.
"It started out back then with a lot of spirit," said longtime member Ben McDonald (who still plays on the volleyball team).
"I think the first year I played, in 1980, we had 30 people on the baseball team. And the slush was a vodka punch back when they used to allow us to drink on the field.
"Or at least nobody complained about us drinking on the field."
Tom DeBeyer is credited with starting the team back in 1977 with longtime Yellowknifers like Fred and Linda Koe playing on it back then. Linda, while pregnant with twins, played first base.
"They all played first base," said Fred.
Contrary to popular opinion which dictates that the team started in Inuvik and moved to the capital, the team actually started in Yellowknife.
The Inuvik team that is mistaken for an early BFTA team was actually (jokingly) dubbed the "farm team."
The team, called the Delta Flashers, began because one of the BFTA members in Yellowknife went up to Inuvik on a work transfer, not an unusual phenomenon in the NWT, and started the farm team.
"We were always told that if we didn't play well we'd get sent to the farm team up in Inuvik," says Redder. "Which was a joke because we didn't play well anyway."
Cheer lives on
The team's philosophy was to balance fun and competition, says Carolyn Mandrusiak, the member with the longest team standing at the reunion.
She played on the Inuvik Flashers before moving to Yellowknife and playing on the BFTA squad.
"The team always stays in the lower divisions where it's more fun," says Mandrusiak.
"We liked the C, D and E divisions where you can have more fun and the rules weren't as strict."
It's still that way with the volleyball team playing in the E division, although many say that because of the team is "mostly senior" they really have not much of a choice.
The team is getting older.
"We're at the point now where we have a few kids coming out," McDonald says, referring to younger players whose parents play on the team, such as Corrine Inward-Jones and her mother Cheryl.
"But most of us realize our days are numbered," adds McDonald.
The team has a cheer, which has endured over the 25 years.
Their team chants it on the field, or in the bar. Many say they wouldn't be able to forget this cheer if they tried:
"Here's to it, here's from it. Here's to it again, if you don't do it when you get to it, then you never get to it to do it again."
What do you know?!
Many players have worn the gold & black, and many stories have disappeared from the oral history. If you've ever played on the team, we'd love to hear from you and get some of those stories back. Drop us a line!
