The Impact of summer football in Ontario.
Twenty Years ago Ray Roach of Mississauga, the late Gord Carey of Oshawa and Martino DiSabatino of Huronia banded together to form a summer football league for players 19 and under. Prior to 1993, there was only a fall league in Ottawa for high school age children.
The original Great Lakes Football League only had three teams in 1993. Today there are dozens of summer football programs in every urban center from Sault St. Marie to Windsor to Ottawa. Most centers offer programs for kids 7-19 with many cities able to host multiple teams. Leagues such as the Ontario Varsity Football League and the Ontario Football Conference offer the highest level of competition in the Province for High School Age Players. Player development has been extraordinary as seasons last for three months plus playoffs and players can learn and grow in the same system for several years. Often, summer programs are able to organize full coaching staffs. The impact on Football in Canada is tremendous. Not only have summer football programs developed players they have also developed high level coaches. Several CIS Head Coaches and assistants have coached in summer football programs in Ontario. These include: Clint Uttley(Huronia Stallions), who is Head Coach of McGill University, Greg Gary(Mississauga Warriors) who is the Head Coach of the University of Toronto, Greg Marshall(Wentworth Panthers) who is the Head Coach of the University of Western Ontario and top CIS assistants Josh Lambert(Huronia Stallions) at St. Francis Xavier and Tom Flaxman(Mississauga Warriors) at the University of Toronto. With the Huronia Stallions, the Varsity and Junior Varsity teams typically have 8-10 coaches. The Stallions have developed several coaches that went on to play university football and return each summer to give back to the program and coach the team. Today we are seeing the graduates of Ontario summer football in the CFL, NFL, CIS and NCAA. Many of the young stars in the CFL developed their skills and talents through years of summer league football. The various leagues throughout the years have also contributed players to Team Ontario and Team Canada. Team Ontario competes against other Provinces each July in a National tournament. The 19 and under Team Canada has defeated the United States in competition on several occasions to capture the World Championship with several players coming from Ontario summer league programs. Examples of high profile CFL players include at the runningback position: Edmonton’s starting tailback Jerome Messum(Brampton Bulldogs) and Montreal tailback Dahrain Diedrick(Toronto Thunder). Akeem Foster(Oshawa Hawkeyes) and Shawn Gore(Metro Toronto Wildcats) are both starting receivers with the BC Lions. Nick Kaczur(Brantford Bisons), OJ Atogwe(Essex Ravens) and Kerry Carter(Mississauga Warriors) made it to the NFL. Kaczur won two Super Bowl Rings with the New England Patriots and Atogwe currently is the starting strong safety for the Washington Redskins. Locally in Barrie, former Stallions player Adam Rogers is currently with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and spent two seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos. One of the most remarkable recent stories is that of Will Finch(Burlington Stampeders) who started for Team Canada at the Men’s World Football Championship as a Grade 12 student. The Head Coach of Queen’s University, Pat Sheahan issued the following quote regarding the twentieth anniversary of the Huronia Stallions and summer football in Ontario:
“Congrats to all associated with the Stallions. Your program has produced numerous players who have moved on to new frontiers with great success. I would further congratulate all community programs for the continuing efforts to elevate the game of football in our province. Summer football has infused energy into youth football in extraordinary fashion. The game in Ontario is better because of the collective efforts of you and your colleagues! “
The Toronto Argonauts currently have three former summer league stars on their roster. Slotback Mike Bradwell(Toronto Thunder), Defensive Back Matt Black(Metro Toronto Wildcats) and Tailback Andre Durie(Mississauga Warriors). The organization issued the following statement regarding the impact of summer football on the CFL and football in general,
“Local Ontario summer football leagues offer kids an opportunity to not just play football but uncover core values that can help youth develop into model citizens. Often times, the work ethic they forge from football translates into their personal lives and helps them in their jobs and in their future. It’s the exceptional work of the volunteer coaches and staff in the summer leagues that rubs off on the youth and helps them to understand that they are improving more than just their athletic ability.
Over the years, the Argonauts have relied on football players from local summer leagues to fill important roster positions because they have the depth of knowledge of the Canadian game, they’ve been well coached and they are fully committed to the sport. Not every football player has the personal drive needed to play the game at the professional level and it’s the players who take advantage of the outstanding coaching and opportunity offered them in the local summer leagues that excel most. They learn the game quickly and prepare themselves to play at the college, junior and eventually with us, in the pros.
Ontario summer leagues enjoy a long tradition of producing high quality players that are now a part of the fabric of the Argonauts. The leagues can proudly boast that they have helped to improve the overall talent of Canadian football players across the CFL, and our hometown Argos, and those volunteers who give their time continue to set the bar high.”
With approximately 15,000 young athletes involved in summer football programs the impact of Canadian talent in both University and Professional football will continue to grow in the future.
Coach DiSabatino would like to thank Jim Raycroft, Jack Duffy, Wayne Scott, Carol Romero and John Roach for their assistance in helping found the Stallions in 1993.
