Our friend and former board chair, Jim Hopson, passed away today, as we learned today. This news has devastated us. Jim joined our squad in 2015 after a stellar career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Thanks for all the help you’ve given the Conexus Arts Centre and Regina as a whole through your leadership, direction, and support. We will miss you terribly.
Our deepest sympathies go out to Jim’s loved ones and friends. Jim, may you rest in peace. The first word that Hopson had stage four colon cancer came in April of 2021.
He announced in January 2024 that he had stopped taking his medication for the illness. Hopson, who was born in Regina in 1951, played high school football for Thom Collegiate. He played junior football for the Regina Rams and then the Saskatchewan Roughriders after finishing high school.
For four years, from 1973 to 1976, he was a part of the Roughriders’ offensive line. He played alongside guys like George Reed and Ron Lancaster. After participating in the 1976 Grey Cup game, Hopson announced his retirement from hockey.
Over the next three decades, he worked his way up the educational ladder, becoming a principal and director of education for the Prairie Valley School Division after starting out as a full-time teacher. While playing junior football for the Rams and the Riders, Hopson attended the University of Regina and got a degree in education. To top it all off, he earned an MA from the University of Oregon. The Riders won the Grey Cup twice while Hopson was head coach, in 2007 and 2013, both times at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field. The club also made it to the Grey Cup finals in 2009 and 2010.
Hopson oversaw the Riders’ financial stability and helped them achieve a 96-84-1 record while serving as president and CEO. This came after a few years of financial instability in the 1990s. “He ushered in a decade of exponential growth for the club’s business operations, football operations, and Rider Pride,” read a statement posted on Wednesday morning by the Saskatchewan Roughriders on their website.As per the team’s account, the Riders were able to secure the franchise’s future through substantial savings and investments after Hopson’s tenure as president and CEO, going from a profit of $455 in his first year in the role.
With more merchandise sales than the other eight Canadian Football League (CFL) teams put together, the Roughriders emerged as the league’s frontrunners. In a statement, the team claimed that their record-breaking level of fan engagement was due in large part to their stellar play both on and off the field.
