T-Birds Spring tryout camp bodes well for 2012

This past Sunday 140 players took to the field for an inter squad game that was the culmination of 6 months’ worth of recruiting and 20 off-season practices. These players represented roughly 65 current veterans, 30 signed recruits and about 45 walk-on tryout players. The game was a spirited affair and unusually high scoring for a spring camp tilt. There were many bright spots on both side of the ball as team Gold beat team Blue 37 -14.

On Offense Billy Greene saw limited action but looked ready for another solid campaign in 2012. Both Carson Williams and Dominik Bundschuh showed that they are also both game ready as they continue to develop behind Hec Crighton winner Greene. OL was anchored by Veteran presence Kelly Kurisu. Tackle Cole Allinger continued his development and physical play from the end of last season and should find himself in the mix this season. Rec AJ Miller had a great week of practice before pulling a calf on Sunday. Sam Adu–showed his versatility by moving to Rec; playing both RB and REC effectively. RB – Brandon Deschamps ran the ball hard all weekend and will be capable of getting the tough yards for the T-birds ground game in 2012.

Newcomers, Alec Pennell and Jas Dhillon were dominant on the left side of the OL while Cody Cochrane had 6 catches to lead all receives in the game. Daniel English was another blue chip recruit at receiver who had 4 catches in the game and flashed amazing potential. At RB new recruits Ray Calderwood and Taylor Souter ripped off multiple 10+ yard runs and should add to a stable talented UBC backs.
On Defense, Martin Park showed he is ready to fill the hole left by the graduation of Serge Kaminsky at DL. Sebestien Martimbault- was solid all weekend and seems to be getting more comfortable at the field half position. Jordan Bosa- was a physical force throughout camp before breaking a finger in the morning. Ben Bahrami has done a solid job transitioning from LB to DE while 2nd Year LB’s from Vancouver College Adam Konar and Charlie Thorpe continue to impress.

As for the newcomers Ian Henderson and Tobi Sroka were disruptive forces along the DL throughout camp. Dallas Yassinsky had 2 Int in the scrimmage and looked ahead of his years as a first year DB. Adam Seniuk and Miguel Barker from the Edmonton Wildcats- demonstrated athleticism, maturity and readiness to play next year in the defensive backfield. Another bright spot was Graeme Tod-Tims. He was physical all week and demonstrated raw athleticism to be a very good college player.

Overall the spring camp was a successful in terms evaluating talent and giving us a benchmark for were we at. We definitely feel that this camp showed we have the talent to compete with the best teams in our conference, but continued months of hard off-season training in preparation for August training camp are still going to be very important if we expect to compete for a Canada West Title come November.

Source: UBC football