REGINA — It might seem like the time of year where Saskatchewan Roughriders communications director Arielle Zerr might be able to relax a bit — what with it being the dead of winter and the Canadian Football League season being three months in the rear view mirror and all — but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
No, once the team’s season ended this past November, a new season immediately began for the communications staff, with tons of player interviews to schedule, press releases to write and announcements to make. In fact, this time of year is among the busiest of them all as the free agency period moves into high gear.
Then throw in everything surrounding a certain championship trophy, and things go even more into overdrive.
It all makes for busy, busy times, but Zerr wouldn’t have it any other way.
She joined The SportsCage’s Barney Shynkaruk and Teagan Witko during National Women in Sports Day on Wednesday afternoon to talk about how things are going after the Roughriders Grey Cup win in November and how she came about her unique position.
“It’s a busy time for us right now and it’s an exciting time, obviously, because we’re building on what was an incredible season in 2025 and now just trying to do it all over again,” Zerr said.
Interestingly enough, Zerr never had working for the Roughriders on her mind in the earliest stages of her career. While studying journalism in university, she originally planned to get into communications but ended up taking a sports broadcasting path instead. That led to a moment not long after getting into the business that cemented her love for it.
While covering the 2012 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Canalta Cup Final between the Weyburn Red Wings and Humboldt Broncos, Zerr interviewed Wings forward Miguel Pereira after his overtime goal in Game 3, with the on-ice chat taking place in front of more than 1,500 fans packed into Weyburn’s Crescent Point Place.
As one might expect, the environment was utterly insane, and the kind of moment that would leave anyone working that kind of game in awe.
“The people of Weyburn are slamming the glass, it’s just so loud in there, and I thought to myself that if I could do this for the rest of my life, it would never feel like work,” Zerr said. “And it’s true. I can tell you winning the Grey Cup didn’t feel like work, everything leading up to that was busy, but in that moment, yeah, it’s an amazing feeling.”
Zerr wasn’t all that involved in sports as an athlete growing up, but that did little to dampen her love the games she watched, as she told participants in the Roughrider Foundation Girls Summit this past October.
“My big message to them is you can love sport and be involved in sport and not have to be an athlete,” she said. “I love the competitiveness, I love the team, I love the environment, I love the emotion.”
Zerr isn’t the only woman working in the Roughriders organization, of course, and she took the moment on National Girls and Women in Sports Day to point out the hard work so many of them do, using the Grey Cup parade turnaround as a prime example.
“The club hires capable, strong women who are so talented at their jobs, and you’re seeing me here today, but you’re not seeing the other women who work for our club in many different capacities,” Zerr said, adding that the craziness of the Grey Cup win was nearly equalled by how efficiently things came together when it came to the celebrations.
“I was on a plane the next morning with the team, but when we got back there was a rally and the parade route was planned. There’s so many things that go into it, and it truly is a team. We support a team but the team behind the team is a great bunch of people.
“I feel so privileged to work for a club that values women and their contributions, and shoutout to people behind the scenes who did all the work to get ready for that.”
Zerr is the only female communications director in the Canadian Football League, but she’s in no way on an island. In fact, the exact opposite is true, as the relationships she’s formed with her fellow directors over her seven years in the position have made things that much easier.
“I think one of the cool things about the job is connecting with other people,” she said. “I have people I bounce ideas off and I feel really supported, not just within the team but around the CFL, and I do learn a lot. If I’m looking for an answer to a question or need a vibe check, I have people across the league I can work with.”
So how does one get into such a position? First of all, prepare and work hard to develop the skills needed to do the job. And then, almost as importantly, don’t be afraid to take your shot when the time comes.
“You just have to jump when the opportunity is there and have the confidence in yourself to know you’re ready to do it before you get the job,” Zerr said. “I was just like ‘I don’t know if this job is going come open again any time soon’ so I had to fight that inner voice that said ‘you’re not ready’ and say ]you’re going to get ready’. So I shot my shot and if I didn’t get it, I’ll do something else.”
As mentioned, Zerr and the Roughriders are currently in the midst of free agency, with plenty of news from the team and across the CFL coming out in the coming days. Be sure to keep an eye on SportsCage for all the happenings with the Grey Cup champions as the 2026 CFL season approaches.
