Cambridge: the new Mecca for football in Ontario

I found myself out at the Com Dev soccer dome to visit with a friend a few weeks back and thought I had walked in on the Laurier Golden Hawks getting a preseason workout. Much to my surprise, the 20 or so Purple Jersey Hawks were there with their coaches, not for their own benefit, but to put some of Cambridge’s emerging football talent through their paces. The Cambridge Minor Football Association apparently runs programs all year round and the Saturday morning drills were part of their Winter Elite camp, where every week a different university hosts the sessions.

It’s not so hard to understand how the relatively small centre of Cambridge is developing football programs and players that compete and win against larger geographic more populous regions the likes of Windsor, London, Hamilton, Mississauga, Toronto and Ottawa once you talk to some of the “players”. Bill Beldham, the Cambridge Minor Football Winter Camp Director and a coach in the minor program explained that they offer camps and training sessions in the winter months geared specifically to the age and experience of the players that are also position specific. “Our camps keep the boys off the Xbox for a few hours, enhance their skills and keep the camaraderie bonds tight amongst them. At the Elite camp they also get exposure with the top University programs in the province.”

Apparently, there is a ton of good things going on in the city, with respect to football. In the 2010 High School season, St. Benedict’s, Southwood and Jacob Hespeler made it to the semi-finals in the “A” division of junior football. This is no small feat as WWCSSA has 20 football programs that compete and only 6 of those are from smaller Cambridge area schools. Greg White, Athletic coordinator at Jacob Hespeler Secondary School and the undefeated A division champs attributes this performance to a few changes to the landscape in recent years. “Although we don’t have the budgets we do model our programs after the US schools by demanding a commitment and developing a sense of community and responsibility with our boys. We are providing the tools and guidance they need to be successful”. White himself a Vanier cup winner goes on to mention, “The growth of the Cambridge Minor Football Association and our close ties to them is sending us and the other Cambridge schools experienced football athletes like we’ve never seen before. Kids are coming to us from the CMFA entering grade 9 with 6-8 years of competitive experience having played tackle ball since age 7 and some of them playing 2 seasons a year. Most of us did not strap on the pads for the first time until we were 14.” Many of the teachers and coaches across Cambridge volunteer in more than one of the various Minor, House league, High school or Elite OVFL teams that travel the province.

In 2010, The C.M.F.A.’s Wolverines, which field teams in the S.O.F.A.L. or South-western Ontario Football Association of Leagues, a 9 city loop which includes teams from Kitchener-Waterloo, Brampton and Mississauga, had a pretty impressive season. The minor programs have 7-14 year old players competing in 7 different divisions. 8 of 11 teams made it to the semi finals, and 5 to the Finals. The Wolverines brought home 3 Championship trophies. The Ontario Pewee Varsity Lions won their conference championship and made the final 4 in the province last season. Their Junior Varsity counterparts took it one step further and lost a heart breaker in the Ottawa finals to the Brampton Bulldogs. The OMFL U14 Lions team went an impressive 11-0 only being challenged a few times all season and took best in the Ontario Minor league kudos and the hardware. Bill Martindale the Director of the city’s Elite Lions football teams and a past president of the CMFA has an infectious passion that he loves to share. “This game does amazing things for kids and young men outside of the sport. Our energy and enthusiasm stems from knowledge that we are making a difference in these kids’ lives as well as providing a recreational outlet.” Making a difference may be a motivator for many but so apparently is winning. Martindale goes on to share “that on the provincial stage his Cambridge Lions had their goals set on .500 seasons or just making the playoffs 3-4 years ago. In the last few years the programs win percentage is above .800. This is quite the accomplishment indeed but an even more astonishing accomplishment in light of the competition. Cambridge draws from a population base of 120,000. Most centers they play against draw talent from 5-10 times that”.

Asked what it is that is so different with the Cambridge program when other minor sports or football programs are struggling with registrations in tough economic times Steve Amis, the President of the Cambridge Minor Football Association explains, “It’s the experience we offer the parents and the kids that separates us, the show we put on. Our volunteers make sure that even in our Minor program we get the kids at least one “Friday Night Lights” home game. It’s a family friendly atmosphere complete with; concessions, player introductions on the main field in front of the grand stand, play by play and Music all under the lights. It’s more than just a football game its like a big party or festival. Come out on a Friday night in the summer when our big boys are playing and you’ll think you were somewhere in the southern U.S.. We’ll have a few thousand people out cheering on our boys against the best the province has to offer.” So how do they do it? “We have a great working relationship as a user group with the City of Cambridge and the Waterloo Regional School Board. Several corporate sponsors have been very generous allowing us to donate considerable resources to improving our home base at the Jake (JHSS) with the help of the City. The City and WRDSB are seeing the benefits to the community at large. We have some big plans underway to keep on improving the experience and our facility”. Being a bit non-committal, Amis was referencing discussions ongoing to add prestigious Field Turf to the complex. “Our programs and most importantly the enjoyment level of our members continues to grow. In 2011 we will register over 700 kids and host over 100 home games.” added Amis. “It really does come down to the very unique experience and it’s our army of volunteers that make it that way. We have hundreds of volunteers donating thousands of hours and everyone feels a sense of belonging and pitches in. Success breeds success and everyone wants to be a part of continually improving the association. With all this help and that of our corporate sponsors our fees are also the lowest in the province, our CSFL or Spring House league is only $200 for the season and we provide all equipment”

“Cambridge has really got a good thing going. Many bigger centers and associations that have been around a lot longer are using the Cambridge model.” Ian Smith who is the President of the Ontario Football Alliance, the governing football body or PSO (provincial sports organization) points to the fact that there is quite a few dedicated football folks in Cambridge and indeed they are doing quite the job for the size of the community.

All the action happens at Jacob Hespeler High School, 2 minutes from the 401 and 24. I will be sure to bring the family out this summer to see what all the fuss is about.

For program information or to find out when one of those Friday Night Lights games is on contact www.cambridgefootball.ca