Bob Ellard, an architect by trade, helped to create the blueprint for a prosperous era in Saskatchewan Roughriders history.
To cite one example, he was the President of Saskatchewan’s first Grey Cup Festival — a landmark 1995 event that raised more than $1.3 million for the community-owned CFL team and established Regina as a go-to host city.
As the Roughriders’ volunteer President from 1998 to 2001, Ellard played a key role in the hiring of General Manager Roy Shivers and the addition of Jim Hopson to the Management Committee (now known as the Board of Directors).
Hopson joined the Board as a Special Advisor in 2001 and became the Roughriders’ first full-time President-CEO just four years later.
“When I was President, I asked Jim if he would come on as an Advisor to the Board,” Ellard recalls from his home in Canmore, Alta. “He and Paul Hill came on at the same time as Advisors.
“Neither of them had a vote, but Jim had a connection to the team previously as a player and we brought him back in an administrative capacity.
“Jim’s connection with the team got stronger and look where it took him. He did some marvelous things.”
Over Hopson’s decade as the President-CEO, the Roughriders appeared in four Grey Cup Games and won two of them.
The Roughriders’ two most-recent Grey Cup-winning starting quarterbacks — Kerry Joseph (2007) and Darian Durant (2013) — were acquired by Shivers in the same trade on April 12, 2006.
“I was the President at the time we hired Roy, but a lot of people were involved in making that happen,” says Ellard, rewinding to December of 1999.
“I look back on my time with the Riders and, in terms of the quality of our product and our football team, Roy set a standard for us to achieve. We didn’t achieve it with him, but we started moving up.
“He brought in Danny Barrett and nobody knew Danny as a coach. They knew him as a player. Danny did a lot of good things. Roy did a lot of good things. Like everybody, Roy made some mistakes, but Roy was the right type of person for the time.
“He, in my opinion, moved us from an OK franchise to a much, much better franchise, and subsequent General Managers and Presidents — whatever title they had — built on what he and Danny brought in.”
Shivers and Barrett joined the Roughriders after a 3-15 season that prompted the resignation of Alan Ford as the GM.
Under Ford, the Roughriders won one Grey Cup title (in 1989) and survived a stretch in which the franchise was in danger of folding. Ford’s presence was crucial at a time when the future of the entire league was imperilled.
“Al’s one of the best people I’ve ever worked with and I’m sure it broke his heart to say, ‘If we don’t make the playoffs next year, I’ll fall on my sword,’ and he did,” Ellard says.
“Al did a lot of good things. He held the organization together for a long time. I look back on that and say it was a privilege to work with him.
“To meet some of the coaches and some of the players, none of those are long-standing relationships. But, I’ll tell you, the long-standing relationships with the volunteers I worked with are special, very special.”
Ellard was himself a dedicated community volunteer during the 31 years he resided in the Queen City, tirelessly lending his time and expertise to organizations such as the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, Sask Sport Inc., and the Regina Economic Development Authority.
Born in Thunder Bay, Ellard moved to Regina from Winnipeg in 1977 with his wife (Barb) and two children (Brie and Ben).
In addition to establishing what would become a thriving architectural practice, Ellard quickly developed an appreciation for the Roughriders.
He also made remarkable contributions to the rowing community as a participant, coach and builder.
Beyond that, he presided over events such as the Regina Dragon Boat Festival and the 1992 Canadian Masters’ Summer Sport Festival.
Ellard ascended to another tier as a volunteer when he was asked to lead Regina’s first Grey Cup Committee and was ultimately part of a transformative event.
“I think people’s impression of Saskatchewan and Regina, specifically, changed in terms of our ability to do certain things — in this case, host a major event, and an event that we had never even tried to host in previous years,” he reflects.
“It was an event that most people said we couldn’t do, because they said you had to have 5,000 Class A hotel rooms. Regina still doesn’t have 5,000 hotel rooms. But we did it and we showed the rest of the league some things they might want to try when it was their turn. I think subsequent Grey Cups have built on that early initiative.
“The housing was something people thought we could never solve. Well, there were probably vacant hotel rooms in Regina (during Grey Cup week) because people figured out that if they were from Alberta, they probably had 17 relatives in Saskatchewan and they could stay with them.
“It set a new watermark, if you will, for Saskatchewan events, certainly with Grey Cups, but I think it went on other events, such as Briers, Memorial Cups, or whatever. We hosted the Canada Summer Games in 2005.”
Naturally, Ellard was the President of that event, too.
Fred Wagman was the Roughriders’ President when Ellard was invited to join the Management Commitee in 1996.
Ellard succeeded Wagman and became the President — assuming a position that is now known as Chair of the Board of Directors — on Jan. 31, 1998.
“The fact that I was in a business that I had ownership in, along with my partners being understanding, allowed me the time, because it takes time,” Ellard says.
“I would say that on any given day when I was involved as President, it was half a day, every single day.”
Yet, there was nary a word of complaint.
“You enjoy it and you enjoy football and you enjoy the profile that the Riders have in the community,” Ellard continues.
“With respect, there’s nothing in Regina, for sure, or in Saskatchewan that is more prominent as a community entity than the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“If you’ve got a game on Saturday or Sunday, it’s the talk on Monday. Win, lose or draw, everybody knows about it and business goes accordingly.
“If you’re involved, you get consumed, whether you want it or not. And I’ve seen people who it started to consume who didn’t want it and walked away from it.
“In my case, I didn’t or couldn’t. It got me in deeper and deeper. I started attending different things. Then you’re on the CFL Board of Governors. Well, that starts consuming you, because you try to affect change.
“I think if you look at what has gone on with the Riders and the league over the last 20 years, a lot of people — and I don’t take credit for it — have affected a lot of change at the league level in terms of equity.
“We’re not the have-not franchise. We’re one of the ‘have’ franchises. People listen to us now.”
Although the modest Ellard is reluctant to take credit, he has nonetheless become accustomed to accepting accolades. There was little choice, considering the multitude of honours that have been bestowed upon him.
In 1995, for example, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame as a builder, in recognition of his contributions to rowing.
He received the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, honouring his volunteer work, in 2008.
Each year, the Bob Ellard Legacy Award is presented to someone who best demonstrates his passion for rowing and a commitment to being an ambassador for the sport at all levels.
Ellard is also a life member of the Regina Rowing Club, which named its boathouse after him in 2015.
“It’s rewarding to have your name on something that is going to hopefully be around longer than I’ll be around,” Ellard, 75, says with a chuckle.
“My sport was rowing — is rowing — and I left my mark on that boathouse. I spent a lot of time coaching kids and setting things up, so it’s pretty rewarding to see my name on the building.”
Ellard is now part of the building process in Canmore, where he still undertakes some architectural projects while remaining active in general.
An avid skier, he also rides a road bike 40 to 50 kilometres, five days a week.
Once a Rider, always a rider.
