Ottawa: CFI offers free combine March 24th

Brock Flemming is a Canadian who began his university football career in the U.S. After being recruited by 47 schools, the 6’7” offensive lineman decided on Colgate University – an NCAA Division 1-AA team that plays out of New York State.

Everyone was sure Flemming would play offensive line for the University of Michigan, including the organizer of the only national combine in Canada at the time. The organizer even called Flemming at home to chew him out once he decided not to sign with the Wolverines.

Flemming felt Colgate was a safer choice because “it was closer to home and felt like less of a step up as far as football went.” He was the second ranked prospect in Canada, yet he still didn’t feel like he was good enough to play at Michigan.

“Guys ask me all the time: ‘imagine if you’d gone to Michigan.’ They won the national championship. You could have played with Tom Brady and Charles Woodson,” he pointed out.

While he doesn’t regret any of the decisions he’s made, he has asked himself: “If I could go back, what would I change?” There are two answers he continues to come back to- train harder and believe in my abilities.

Flemming founded the Canadian Football Institute (CFI) in hopes of helping young athletes facing the same issues. He’s partnered with Scott Endicott, Greg “Buck” Stevenson, Dave Azzi and JC Moreau to create a combine that will develop Canadian talent and help players get to the next level.

Traditionally, combines have been a stepping stone for junior and senior high school students hoping to be noticed by CIS and NCAA scouts.

For this reason, combines can be intimidating. Players go through exercises to register times that will determine whether or not they get noticed. What’s more unnerving is that most of these players are there without much guidance or direction.
Endicott mentioned that he has seen players run the 40 yard dash weaving left and right, as precious seconds tick away on the stopwatch. They haven’t been coached on how to run it properly.

Coaching and guidance is about more than just this, though. Flemming talked about a young player who was interested in studying medicine.

“Do you know of any schools that are good at football and have a good medical program?” the player asked Flemming. The player was concerned that he wouldn’t have a chance of going pro if he didn’t go to a ‘big’ football school. He believed it was a choice: “Do I get into medicine, or do I play football?”

Flemming wants to emphasize the importance of getting an education while playing football. “Schools are essentially paying you to play for them in the form of a University degree. Not earning that degree would be a shame.” Flemming also told that player “that if you’re good enough to play professional football, the scouts will find you…whether you play in the SEC or the Ivy League.”

At CFI, providing this kind of advice is something they hope to do – it’s about more than fast 40s and quick feet. Education is a big part of it, Endicott said.

On their registration form, players are asked what schools they’d like to play for along with their GPA and other personal information. At some point, the CFI even hopes to bring in SAT prep courses, Endicott said. This would happen once the business moves beyond just combines and begins running extended camps and invite only events.

This highly personal system is what makes CFI different from other Canadian combines. For example, all registered players will have an online profile created for them. These profiles will provide an individual snapshot, complete with personal information, highlight reels, and their contact information. Right now, there is only one national Canadian combine who does anything similar to what CFI has proposed. Otherwise, only American combines have systems like this in place.

With that said, the Canadian football mentality is beginning to change. Flemming has coached minor league football where he’s noticed that more and more kids are, as he says, football players year round – not just when they aren’t playing hockey. There is a developing interest in playing at the next level and Flemming suggested that Canadian kids have the talent to get there; whether that’s in Canada, or south of the border.

Registration for CFI’s combines are open to players as young as 14. This early start gives players a chance to gauge real improvement and see results that are more than just a “fluke,” Flemming said.

“That’s why we want our age category at 14 plus,” Endicott said. “Then, it gives the recruiting edge to the universities as well.” In the U.S., schools watch players as they develop, Endicott said. Some players have even verbally committed to certain schools by their junior year – kids who are as young as 15 and, in extraordinary cases, younger.
Once the players have registered for a combine and their profile is created, their information will go into a database for CIS and NCAA scouts. “It’ll be a tool for universities and recruiters to use,” Flemming said. “We want to make sure we can provide a high quality product to help the recruiting process.”

CFI is still in its beginning phases. Its first combine will be held March 24th in Ottawa at the Superdome on Bearbrook Road. Another is scheduled for December. Registration and participation at these combines are completely FREE.

While the combine is free, CFI hasn’t compromised the quality of the testing. A lot of combines don’t have any way to ensure that the testing is accurate, Flemming said. “You could be running a 40 yard dash that’s actually 39 yards, downhill with the wind at your back,” he added jokingly. Also, many of these combines time players manually with a stopwatch – a method that generally registers a less accurate time.

“There’s a company out of Montreal called Freelap that is going to be the official timer,” Flemming said. They are currently in the process of finalizing the agreement.
Freelap uses electronic sensors to register times for events such as the 40, the shuttle and the three cone drill – tests designed to measure the players’ speed and agility.

“It’s hard to validate how accurate a combine is but what we’re hoping to do is build our reputation,” Flemming said. Once they do, more recruiters and coaches will begin showing up to the events to see the players themselves. “Then it’s just about continuing to run high quality combines.”

To register for the combine and for more information, go to [url]http://canadianfootballinstitute.com/index.aspx.