“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”—Wilma Rudolph It’s been nearly two weeks since the Niagara Storm football organization, based out of Grimsby, played against the Niagara Spears at a local charity jamboree held on May 5th at the Kiwanis Field in St. Catharines. Despite giving up a tremendous size advantage to all of the other OVFL teams in attendance, the Niagara Storm (part of the OMFL) pulled off what many Niagara football fans (and parents) now believe...

Friends will always make fun of other friends, that’s just the way it is. But good friends, young men especially, shouldn’t intentionally go out of their way to make another friend feel like he’s continuously being picked on or the butt of an ongoing joke. It’s one thing to make fun of someone who you know can take it because he has a great sense of humour and doesn’t take himself or the things that his friends say too seriously…he tries anyway. It’s another thing however, to keep harping on about something that eventually goes from being funny to being...

As an athlete, it can’t be easy being affiliated with a sport that so many others seem to either hold in contempt or don’t take seriously in the first place because it combines a popular and socially acceptable profession such as [fitness] modelling, with America’s favourite contact sport—football. Modelling is fine. Rarely do you ever hear people complaining that it undermines women’s rights. In fact, many women, especially those who actually model for a living, would argue that it easily empowers women in today’s society. Throw a brain in the mix and suddenly you have a super woman...

The talent-rich Niagara Region is officially busting at the seams with many outstanding young athletes. So many in fact, that the Niagara Spears, who as members of the OVFL, and have always been considered to be the elite youth football program in the entire Niagara area, are now sharing this overabundance of talent with another travel youth football organization founded out of Grimsby—the Niagara Storm, who have only been in operation since the 2009 season as a part of the OMFL. According to Frank Trivieri, co-founder of the Niagara Storm, “Centres like Brampton or Mississauga, with a very...

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...

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”—Albert Einstein Hamilton Tiger-Cats Offensive Guard, Peter Dyakowski, 27, managed to break all common stereotypes which are typically associated with “big, dumb football players” by recently competing and winning on the CBC television show Canada’s Smartest Person. Matched up against a high-school science teacher, a physicist, and one of the top poets in Canada (interesting selections), Dyakowski, who himself was a Mechanical Engineering and History...

For many, many years, I worked in the Fitness Industry, specifically in the areas of “Beginner” fitness. I loved the idea of taking someone who had essentially been inactive for their entire lives and transforming that person into a healthier and more active (thus happier) person. One common trend amongst most of these adults however, was that at some point in their lives (usually back in high school), they were permanently turned off of physical activity, almost always due to the fact that they had a coach or a teacher who used exercise as a means to punish the less athletic players or students,...

MARCH 29, 2012: Recently, a friend of mine asked me an honest question with regards to Will Ribeiro. He asked, “What makes Will a hero? What makes him any more special than anyone else?” Well, that’s not necessarily an easy question to answer. Why does anyone deserve that label? I do acknowledge that it’s a term that definitely gets thrown around way too much these days. With that being said however, I feel quite strongly that it describes someone of Will’s character perfectly, and I also feel that he is quite deserving of that particular title if only because of...

As a proud member of the Hospitality Service Industry (yes, bartending is a Real job, especially in a tourist-rich area such as the Niagara Region), I try to network with as many other service professionals as I can, either through personal interaction, or by way of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Today, Liquor.com asked the following question via Twitter: BARTENDERS’ SOAPBOX: “How important is making eye contact with each and every patron?” Immediately, this came across as a very odd question, because to me, the answer was beyond obvious: “VERY!” With that being said...

“We’re not just gonna do the physical aspect of it. We’re also gonna teach them things that will help them in their life.” Many of you reading this may or may not be familiar with the name, Coach D Jo Jones, but I can just about guarantee that you’re already very familiar with her body of work in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Coach Jones is best known in many MMA circles for having been the “Secret Weapon” behind the training and conditioning work for many of the highly successful fighters that have all come out of Jackson-Winklejohn’s MMA gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Specifically,...