Three Stallions stand out at the QMFL banquet

On Saturday, Feb. 19 the Quebec Midget Football League held its annual awards banquet to close the 2010 football season. As usual, the event was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. About 550 people attended this event, roughly half of which were players and the other half was made up of coaches, parents, volunteers and guests.

The St-Lazare Stallions organization was represented by a group of 16 persons which included players, parents and coaches from the midget team as well as representatives from the junior team. Before the event started, they were all able to walk through a room with about 20 exhibitors. Among them were representatives from 13 CEGEP football teams including three from the AAA division, three from AA division 1 and seven from AA division 2. In addition, there were also display stands from Queen’s University, St-Lazare and St-Leonard junior football teams, Football Canada as well as several equipment manufacturers.

The actual awards ceremonies started shortly after 2 pm with brief introductions by the two masters of ceremony: Tony Iadelluca Sr. and Louis Poulin. They welcomed all the participants as well as the special guests which included:

* Pat Sheehan, head coach at Queen’s University
* Jamie Baresi, offensive coordinator for Winnipeg Blue Bombers
* Marc Santerre, former head coach of the U of M football team
* Cherif Nicolas, head coach of the CEGEP de Vieux Montreal football team
* Rick Sowieta from Football Canada
* Jean-Marc Edmé who is a coach with the Montreal Alouettes.

In addition, the presidents of the QBFL, MRFL and Montreal Metro football leagues were also present. The two MCs then talked about the upcoming game between the QMFL All-Stars and the Rising Stars team from the Greater Toronto area that will take place in April in Hamilton. Renzo Fraraccio then presented pins for five years of service to 10 individuals from Lasalle, St-Hubert, Laval Bulldogs and St-Leonard organizations. During the meal service, a video showing game highlights from the 2010 season was displayed on overhead screens.

Cherif Nicolas was the first of the three guest speakers to address the crowd. In his speech he described how a football game mirrors life because in order to win a game the team needs to obtain small objectives first, like gaining a first down, and then go for bigger ones like scoring a touchdown. In life, he urged players to make the right choices because they would help them attain their life objectives.

Marc Santerre then followed with a speech about the story of Felix Vanier who was one of his former players and about the importance of communication between players and coaches. He also pointed out that having confidence is necessary to achieve anything and how it must be developed through hard work and preparation. He finished his speech by reminding coaches that they can help players develop confidence by showing them respect and that players had to earn that respect.

Trophies were then presented to the St-Laurent Spartans for winning the Wilbert Scott division regular season championship as well as to the players selected to the Wilbert Scott and Bruno Heppell divisions all-star defense teams. Among the players who received awards was Stallions defensive lineman Maxime Latour. The St-Laurent Spartans and the St-Leonard Cougars also received the trophies for the best coaching staff of the year in their respective divisions.

The banquet then continued with an address by the third guest speaker – Jamie Barresi who is the offensive coordinator for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He recounted several anecdotes about many experiences from his 30 years of being involved in football including his stint with Joe Paterno at Penn State and the lesson he learned from Joe DiMaggio about playing hard every game. He stressed that the three most important things that players must live by are pride, loyalty and discipline. He also commented on the celebrations that many players make in the end zone after scoring a touchdown and advised the players in the audience that the best thing to do is to give the ball to the referee and say “I’ll be back”. He finished his speech by warning the players not to allow themselves be used by the game, to challenge themselves and that in order to get through life they must have “something to do, something to hope for and someone to love”.

The ceremonies then continued with a moving presentation of the Keith Ewenson Personality of the Year award to the late George Miller which was accepted by his widow Mrs. Anna Miller. This was followed by the presentation of the Wilbert Scott and Bruno Heppell division offensive all-star and MVP awards. Two Stallions players were among the recipients: Bryce Vieira for all-star running backs and Maxime Trudeau for quarterbacks.

The event concluded shortly after 5 pm with the presentation of the playoff trophies: the Doug Brighton Cup to the St-Leonard Cougars, the Jack Simpson Cup to the Beauce Dragons and the President’s Cup to the Laurentian Bobcats.

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