
How many adults out there have ever looked back on the best sporting moments of their childhood and have wished that they could relive some of those memories for one last glorious time? One more shot at victory. One final game changing play. One more chance to go to war with the best friends and teammates that you’re ever going to have.
For many people, football represents that special moment in time, and both Todd Fryer and Frank Trivieri, co-founders of the Niagara Storm Football Club, would love to see more young players taking advantage of this brief window of opportunity, even if only for another year or two.
“A lot of kids aren’t playing that should be,” said Fryer. “They only have so many years left to play and then it’s over. There will be plenty of time for working and the responsibilities of adulthood when they get older. Now is the time when they need to enjoy playing because before you know it, those days will be gone.”
With special thanks to a surprisingly mild winter and an already fantastic spring, both the Junior and the Senior Varsity teams have been practicing outdoors in full equipment, weeks ahead of their normal training schedules.
“We still want more players coming out, and the reason,” explained Fryer, was that “we have good JV numbers and we have better Varsity numbers than we did at this time last year, but we want to get the word out that we’re still looking for players and it’s not too late to come out. It’s just the beginning of April and it feels later because of the good weather, but it’s amazing that we’re outside already. The fields are dry. The grass is grown.”
Fryer truly believes that this is going to be the Storm’s best season ever, and he attributes that belief to one very strong factor; “The quality of our coaching staff this year—it’s unbelievable. If you just look at the JV team for example, almost every single one of those coaches played in the CFL. There aren’t a lot of other programs in Ontario that can say the same thing.”
“We get a lot of feedback from high school coaches who get our kids,” added Trivieri. “About how they can tell the difference between our kids and some of the other kids that have come out of other football programs.”
“And that goes right back to our coaches,” added Fryer. “Give us time. By the time our season starts, I don’t think anybody is going to be able to stop us. I really don’t.”
Kids today are in such a hurry to grow up, that they don’t truly understand or fully appreciate the importance of living in the moment. Perhaps that is something that they should ask their parents about? For more information on joining the Niagara Storm, please visit www.niagarastorm.com. No experience? No worries. That’s what the coaches are for.
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James Ryan @TheSportstender
