It’s been a long and event-filled off-season for the Niagara Storm youth football organization, as not only did they experience record-breaking growth, but the majority of players themselves have been training extremely hard, both indoors and out, since about mid-to-late January. They’re definitely ready for action. To quote Storm President, Frank Trivieri, right now seems like “an opportune time to update everybody before the teams are fully entrenched in gridiron warfare.” This year, the Niagara Storm have undergone a major transformation. “For our senior teams, which include bantam,...

This past off-season proved instrumental in terms of overall growth for the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) as five new communities joined into the ranks of football history here in Ontario – the Brantford Bisons, the Guelph Bears, the North Halton Crimson Tide, the Niagara Storm, and of course, the Vaughan Rebels. With two of the five organizations moving up from the Ontario Minor Football League (OMFL), two others coming over from the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL), and with one venturing into summer rep football for the very first time in their young organization’s history, this...

Earlier this year, it was announced that the Niagara Storm youth football organization had officially decided to leave the OMFL in order to join the largest tier one football league in Ontario – the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) for the following divisions: Pee Wee (ages 11-12), Bantam (ages 13,14), Junior Varsity (ages 15-16), and Varsity (ages 17-19). However, since the OFC does not offer a division for the Atom level players (ages 9-10), the Storm had decided to remain on with the OMFL while they continued to explore more suitable options for their youngest group of players who are currently...

. Good morning fans and friends. Here’s the deal… If I post something controversial (which is almost always) onto my Facebook wall, Twitter account, etc., please know that the main purpose is not to thrust my views onto others. It’s to raise awareness on topical issues, encourage independent thought, and spark debate in areas that may require further discussion and clarity. With that being said, I consider everyone on my social media (particularly on Facebook) to be a “friend” of mine, and as such, I will not tolerate anyone insulting each other over a difference in...

“You have to think like a psychopath in order to catch a psychopath.” – Hugh Jnutz 4 a.m. I almost hate to admit it out loud, but much to my own personal dismay, I have a conscience. If not for this little nuisance of a sensory in my brain that insists on constantly (and annoyingly) pointing out the obvious differences between right and wrong, and making me feel guilty for ever nearly choosing the less moral of the two, I feel quite confident that I could have easily taken over the world by now. Or at the very least, I could have emptied out a cash register. Or an armored vehicle....

. I recently had the chance to sit down with the head coach of the Niagara Storm bantam (ages 13-14) youth football team, Marcus Stake, to discuss his team’s progress to date, as well as his recent transition into a brand new organization/league. Enjoy! James Ryan: Hi Coach, thanks for taking the time to speak with me. How are practices going? Marcus Stake: Practices are going very well, James. We have some really good athletes and they’re all working hard. I can’t wait to get the pads on them and see what we’re really working with. I’m excited about the balance that we have across the...

. Feel free to agree or disagree with what writer Dave Begel has to say, but on his recent visit with Inside MMA Live with hosts Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice, he had several very specific and valid points to make about the sport of MMA, particularly about what he believes is a blatant exploitation of women and what he feels is the basic, primal motivator for a fan-base that watches a violent sport such as mixed martial arts. Here’s the 5-minute video, which is essentially 3-minutes of floundering debate by the hosts, and then another 2-minutes of desperate ridicule and disrespect. Kinda reminds...

In case you missed the fight last night between Frazer McLaren of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Dave Dziurzynski of the Ottawa Senators, here it is: Hockey fans love a good tilt (myself included), but with the seriousness and awareness of head injuries becoming more prevalent, it’s moments like these that scare the average hockey fan. Even the look on McLaren’s face afterwards demonstrated that he was hardly proud of the fact that he may have just altered (or ended) another athlete’s career. It just as easily could have been him laying on that ice and he knew it. It’s the...

. “Recently, the Ontario Varsity Football League (OVFL) and the Ontario Minor Football League (OMFL) announced a partnership between the two leagues that will see the OVFL become the largest football league in Ontario.” Read the full article on Canada Football Chat here. I know a lot of people, especially in Niagara, are trying really hard to sell this as good news, but… I’d like to remind everyone in Niagara that the Storm were recently a part of the OMFL for the past 4-5 years and the reason they chose to go over to the Ontario Football Conference (OFC) is because the...

. Here’s a simple budgeting solution that I learned from an old boss of mine. It’s a scoring system based on WANTS and NEEDS. So often, we buy something just because we WANT it – not necessarily because we NEED it. And be careful not to confuse the two. You’d be amazed at how little you really NEED to survive comfortably. The scoring works as follows: 2: Your WANT and your NEED are both very low. Don’t waste your money. 3: You either really WANT it (but you don’t really NEED it), or you really NEED it to survive or feel comfortable, even though it might not...