Last Day of Camp

I had mixed feelings about the end of training camp yesterday, since it will be my last as a Concordia Stinger, and I have to look ahead to a season during which I will experience everything as a varsity athlete for the last time. We're relatively healthy, and I have to admit that of the 5 training camps I've survived, this year's was the least physically exhausting. Not to say we're ill-prepared though, as our practices were all high-tempo, and our focus was on execution. Our trip to Saskatchewan also helped to alleviate some of the rigor of of what would otherwise have been successive t0-a-days, and also provided us with a very good pre-season tune-up. 

We start game-planning for our home-opener against Bishop's as of tomorrow morning, and we're all very anxious to play this game. I know Bishop's will be hoping to avenge their defeat in last year's playoffs, and we'll be looking to set a tone for the season.

Game Re-Cap: Saskatchewan

Well we didn't get the result we were hoping for, but all in all we got a productive experience out of our trip to Saskatoon. The first game of the season is usually full of mental mistakes, and we made a lot of them. Throughout the first half of the game, we looked like a team who had less than a weeks-worth of practices under our belt; which of course was actually the case. We were down 14-3 at half-time, but came out in the second half and began to impose our tempo on the game. We achieved this with many of our younger guys rotating into the game, who proved that they deserve a spot on our roster. In the fourth quarter, Liam Mahoney threw a long touchdown pass to Dan Rodriguez, which pulled us to within a point of Saskatchewan, 14-13. We had the momentum in our favor, but turned the ball over in our own end later in the fourth, and they put us away with a major score a few plays later. 

So the final was 21-13 for Saskatchewan. We did want to win the game, but we learnt a lot about our team in the loss. We were able to evaluate our new guys, and how they respond to certain situations. Some players showed that they're willing to sacrifice themselves on special teams, and we addressed the situations that we were slow to react to pre-snap and during the play. And though our team wasn't as mentally sharp as they were, we can take many positives from our inter-squad practice from the previous day. Our O-line and D-line went one-on-one with their opposing lines, and the rest of our team worked a pass-shell drill against their team. In both drills we performed very well, and we proved to ourselves that we have the physical ability to play with and defeat anybody in the country. As the old saying goes though, "Football is 10% physical, and 90% mental," so even though we feel we are contenders to go very deep into the playoffs this season, we realize that we still have a lot of hard work to do before we get there. 

We stayed in the residence on campus throughout the trip, and had a lot of free time to hang out with each other. We took over a couple of T.V. lounges, and usually had either the Olympics or the NFL Network on. There's never a shortage of jokes on our team, and the guys stayed true to form throughout the weekend (somehow the most repetitive jokes seemed to get funnier the more we heard them). 

As I'm writing this blog though, we've already been home and back to training camp for 2 days- puttin' in that hard work I was talking about. It really makes me appreciate that free time we had, and it already seems like it happened a long time ago!

Taking-Off

The first week of training camp has been a very productive one. Our team testing results have proved that everyone was training hard throughout the off-season, as this year's edition of the Concordia Stingers is the strongest and fastest of any of the past five years. The rookies have shown that they're capable of stepping up to the next level, and it looks like many of them will be able to dress and contribute immediately.

Our first big test comes this Saturday, as we're of to Saskatoon to play an exhibition game against the Huskies. It's going to be a very competitive game, as I know that we're playing to win, and I'm sure they'll be doing the same. Our game plan will be simple though, and our focus on execution. All of the guys are excited to get this opportunity to travel, and it should be a good team-building experience. 

We return on Sunday, and I'll be sure to update the blog with all of the details from the trip.

A Stinger in Beijing

Canada has now reached the podium 7 times in the Beijing Summer Olympics, and it was our Women's Wrestling team who were responsible for 2 of those accomplishments. Tonya Verbeek won Bronze in the 55 kilogram class, and Carol Huynh from Hazelton B.C. won Canada's first ever gold medal in women's wrestling by defeating Japan's Chiharu Ichu in the 48 kilogram class. 

We are especially proud though, of former Concordia Stinger, Martine Dugrenier who finished 4th in the Women's 63 kilogram class, surrendering the bronze medal-winning point to the American Randi Miller in the final ten seconds of the match. Martine also wrestled the eventual Olympic champion, Kaori Icho of Japan in the semi-finals. Martine was in fact tied with both these opponents at the end of her matches; unfortunately, when tied in the 3rd round, the victory goes to the wrestler who scores the final point. This was Martine's first Olympic competition, and perhaps we will be able to see her compete again in 2012, in London. Congratulations Martine, an an amazing result!

Stingers football training camp

Training camp is only a few days away now, and I’m itching to get back on the field. Improving in the weight room is always satisfying, but the real pay-off comes when you put on the pads and are able to run faster and hit harder. Traditionally, training camp is a grueling couple of weeks full of meetings, lifting and two-a-days. It is the perfect format to insure that a football team is prepared for the upcoming season not only because of the amount of preparation time we squeeze into a short period, but also because our lives are simplified to the point where football is our only concern. At the end of the day, the only thing I look forward to is a big meal, and getting my body rested up for the next day.

This year’s camp will be much more exciting than any of the previous camps I’ve ever attended. Coach has scheduled us to play an exhibition game in Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Huskies. We’ll also get the opportunity to have an inter-squad practice with them. Saskatchewan is a perennial contender in the CIS, and this will give us a great opportunity to tune-up for our regular season against a quality opponent. We’ll only be away from the 21rst to the 24th, and we’ll pack as much football into those 4 days as possible, before continuing with our training camp on the 25th. This trip should also alleviate some of the mental fatigue that might otherwise build up throughout camp. I’ve learned how to cope with this factor over the past 3 camps, but I can imagine how a trip like this will really benefit some of our younger players.

New feature on Stingers website

The 2008 CIS athletic season is fast approaching, and as a new feature on our Stingers website, I will have the privilege of commenting on any aspect of it. As a football player, you can expect to get a healthy dose of football related commentary, but will do my best to branch out and touch on the other sports in which we participate.

I’ll use this first entry to briefly introduce myself to those who are unfamiliar with me. This will be my fifth and final season playing for Concordia. Though I have already completed all of the requirements towards my B.F.A. in Film Animation. I couldn’t resist the temptation to exploit all five of my years of eligibility, in hopes of attaining a better team result than ever before. I’m excited at the skill and potential that we have this season, returning many key veterans from last year’s team.

Personally, I’m entering this campaign in the best condition I’ve ever been in. Though I was uncertain for a time whether I would be able to play this season, I was training hard throughout the winter months in hopes of getting an opportunity to try-out for a CFL team. This didn’t happen- going un-drafted turned into motivation though, and I continued my training regiment in hoping to make a greater individual contribution to the team than ever before. I have no excuses either; I’ve got a free membership to a gym that is connected to my apartment by an underground parking lot!

So check back for my updates, as I will be posting 2-3 times per week, and get insight into the Concordia Stingers from someone who will be living through the ups and downs. I’ll do my best to give readers a behind-the-scenes perspective on the events and issues we will encounter this upcoming season.

Welcome to Tom Kuchiran

The Concordia Stingers are pleased to announce Tom Kuchiran will take on the task of writing the program’s first blog. Tom is a fifth-year defensive end for the Stingers football team who has earned respect for both his tenacity and maturity on the field. A major in Film Animation, he has enjoyed a strong academic career as well. He was named the football team’s top academic athlete in 2007.

Tom will write about his experiences and opinions with the Stingers football program and share some insight on the activities and talents of other Concordia athletes. An extremely talented artist, he also hopes to post some of his work.

Check back regularly to get an insider’s view of life around the Concordia athletic complex.