The
HUDDLE 17 MAY 2017 ISSUE 14
Official Newsletter of the Blues Football Alumni Network and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues Football Program www.bfan.ca www.varsityblues.ca
Presidents’ Message Dear Alumni and Friends:
Welcome to the May edition of THE HUDDLE, the official newsletter of the BLUES FOOTBALL ALUMNI NETWORK, (formerly known as Friends of Football).
Our BFAN Executive has been building and nurturing a healthy transparent relationship with Executive Director Beth Ali and the faculty. Our goal is to create a united front to support our Football Program. We are entering into a new era of cooperation between the Alumni and the school faculty. BFAN has asked Beth Ali and the faculty for administrative support for all our Alumni events and for our communications through THE HUDDLE and our website.
We are entering into a trial agreement by setting up the BFAN Trust Account to receive all our donations and registration fees for our alumni events, such as the BFAN Golf Tournament, August 21 at King Valley.
ALL RECEIPTS WILL COME FROM AND BE ISSUED BY The University of Toronto.
This account has been created because of the much improved cooperation between BFAN and the Faculty. It will still allow the coach great flexibility to distribute our much needed funding for Athletic Scholarship. This is another important step moving forward. A positive joint partnership is needed to get our football program where it needs to be. NOTES: We would like to welcome Justin Marra '14 into the BFAN Executive.
On behalf of our alumni, I would like to thank our assistant coaches that have moved on, Nate Weiss, Jim Moore and Kevin Eiben. We greatly appreciate their years of dedication, hard work and loyalty to the program. We are excited for Kevin Eiben as he moves up into the professional ranks with Argos as a special teams coach. It is with great sadness that we learn about the passing of one of our great Captains, Curt Russell. Curt, a champion in life and upon the gridiron was an inspiration to me personally. He will be missed by all. We offer our condolences to Barbara and family. We are always looking for alumni to step forward to assist BFAN anyway they can. Our contact person is Ray Reynolds. His information is contained in this issue. DAN FERADAY
President Blues Football Alumni Network THE HUDDLE
17 May 2017
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2017 Varsity Leadership Foundation Golf Tournament
Monday, August 21, 2017 King Valley Golf Club, King City
Registration is now open!
Details available at: http://uoft.me/bfangolf17
Coaches Corner Alumni, Parents and Friends,
As we wrap up the 2016/2017 academic year, I want to take the opportunity to update you on the program. Last season fell short of expectations and we came into the off-season knowing we would need to make significant changes.
Under the guidance and support of Executive Director, Beth Ali and BFAN/VLF (Dan Feraday and Rick Makos) we hired an Offensive and Defensive coordinator and two Recruiting Coordinators, restructured the program's Player Development Model and recommitted our fundraising efforts.
Defensive coordinator - Bob Mullen - and offensive coordinator - Mark Surya have hit the ground running. Both are building relationships with the players and installing their systems. Bob's defensive philosophy is a gap control defense with sound pass coverages on the back end. He places a high importance on players knowing their assignments, which will allow the defense to play fast. Mark has a creative offensive mind. He runs a multiple formation offence with an emphasis on running the ball while at the same time being able to have a very dynamic passing game. The players have fully bought in to the coach’s philosophies and embraced the changes to the team culture.
Recruiting Coordinators Joe Cappiello (university alum) and Gord Gailmore are putting the final touches on the 2017 class and identifying 2018 prospects class. Both Joe’s and Gord's positions will be supported/funded through our fundraising efforts. We are excited about the direction of our recruiting strategy designed to attract the top student athletes in the country.
We also know that player development is core to the success of the program. We have concentrated our efforts on strength and conditioning, academic support nutrition, and mental preparation. We also rely on our outstanding athletic trainers and world-class medical staff for injury prevention and rehabilitation of injuries to keep our players on the field. Fundraising continues to be one of our greatest challenges. In our review of the program, the Executive Director and I have concluded that the additional new staff frees me up to put more of my time and effort into fundraising initiatives. The #1 priority is to pursue sponsorships and to continue working in partnership with BFAN on annual fundraising events. I look forward to seeing you at the golf tournament. Have a great summer. COACH GARY
THE HUDDLE
17 May 2017
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2017 Captains & Alumni Dinner Recap 1993 Vanier Cup champion and current Hamilton Ti-Cats CEO Scott Mitchell was on hand as the Varsity Blues football team hosted their annual captains & alumni dinner on Saturday, March 25 at Chestnut Residence Ballroom. Mitchell spoke about the 1993 Varsity Blues Yates and Vanier Cup winning squad, boasting about how tight knit and close the group was. He touched on how there is a role for everyone in football and praised it as one of the most inclusive games in the world. He spoke about the journey to the CFL, that it takes total commitment from the ownership down to win a national championship and paralleled that to the U of T program. Following Mitchell’s recount of fond football memories, the team recognized its latest group of graduating athletes and honoured their 2016 team award winners, highlighted by third-year linebacker Michael Leslie winning the prestigious Johnny Copp memorial trophy as the team’s most valuable player. The James A. Bennett award, given to a member of the football team who, in the opinion of his teammates, exemplifies desire and courage against insurmountable odds, went to fifth-year quarterback Marcus Hobbs. Fifth-year linebacker Adrian Bernard brought home the most inspirational award, while defensive lineman Mekhi Henry earned rookie of the year honours and TJ Morton was named the special teams player of the year.
L to R: Alex Malone, Mark Surya, Kaleb Leach
THE HUDDLE
17 May 2017
L to R: Lou Tiro, Michael Leslie, Greg Gary
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L to R: Alex Pierzchalski, Danny Sprukulis, Rick Makos
L to R: Alex Pierzchalski, Jaiden McBridem, Rick Makos
GRADUATING PLAYERS Row L to R: Alex Pierzchalski, Rick Makos, Danny Sprukulis, JJ Lam, Marcus Hobbs, Ariel Fabbro, Kris Deutschendorf, Peter Harris, Kevin Williams, Beth Ali, Greg Gary; Front Row L to R: Rowan Comish, Jaiden McBride, Adrian Bernard 2nd
THE HUDDLE
17 May 2017
Kevin Bradfield
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2017 Varsity Blues Football Schedule Home Monday, September 4 Saturday, September 16 Thursday, October 5 Saturday, October 21
vs. vs. vs. vs.
Windsor Guelph McMaster Queen's
Away Sunday, August 27 Saturday, September 9 Saturday, September 23 Saturday, October 14
@ @ @ @
Laurier Waterloo York Carleton
Bye Saturday, September 30
Stay Connected We would like to connect with as many current Players and Alumni as possible. If you know of anyone that is not receiving THE HUDDLE Newsletter, please have them contact: rayreynolds@rogers.com
The Blues Football Alumni Network is a connection with the rich and storied tradition of the University of Toronto Football Program. Members of the “Network” represent the business community, former players, coaches, trainers and parents, supporters and the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education. PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE
Dan Feraday
Beth Ali Adam Crawford Greg Gary Justin Marra Rick Jeysman Rick Makos George Polyzois Ray Reynolds
WEBSITE
www.bfan.ca
THE HUDDLE
17 May 2017
The Foundation is committed to funding scholarships for student-athletes consistent with the University’s, CIS and OUA scholarship funding rules. The Varsity Leadership Foundation is an incorporated not-for-profit company in Ontario and is a CRA registered charity. CHAIR
DIRECTORS
Rick Makos
Dan Feraday Andy Filipiuk John Sotirakos Alex Squires
SECRETARY
David Scandiffio TREASURER
George Polyzois
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