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(Posted
7:30 a.m., March 30)
Former
high school buddies behind semi-pro football start-up
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans
Online
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|  Former
Ottawa Rough Rider and Hamilton Tiger-Cat Ken Evraire is the head coach of the
fledgling Ottawa Invaders semi-pro football team. Fred Sherwin/Photo
| |
Erik Faucon
and Jamie McAllister have spent a great deal of their youth strapping on the pads
and hitting the gridiron at both the community and high school levels.
In 2009, they played their final year of junior football eligibility together
for the Cumberland Panters and they were forced to hang up their shoulder pads
and cleats. Unlike
soccer, hockey, and even fastball, there are no beer leagues for football players
who are too old to play university or junior ball. For most, their only option
is flag football, which isn't quite the same. Unwilling
to call it quites, Fuacon and McAllister started looking into the possibility
of forming a semi-pro football team. "At
first we started talking about trying to get the league to raise the age limit
and that led to talking about starting our own team," says Faucon, who played
his high school football at Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School. The
former high school teammates first tested the waters by posting a notice on Facebook.
They quickly found out that they weren't the only overage ballpayers who still
wanted to strap on the pads. The first person to jump on the bandwagon was former
Cumberland Panthers coach Sean Murphy who immediately assumed the position of
General Manager. After
doing a little reserach, they approached the Northern Football Conference, which
is part of the Canadian Senior Football League, and talked to them about estalishing
a new franchise. The
NFC said yes and the rest is history. The team unveiled their logo and a star-studded
coaching staff during a press conference on March 16. The man in charge on the
sidelines is none other than former CFL star Ken Evraire. He will be assisted
by former CFLers Irv Daymond and Glen Kulka, Sean McKee and Ken Evraire Sr. The
team held their first tryout session on March 21, Over 60 prospective players
answered the call including 41-year-old former CFLer Marc Dubé who hasn't played
professional football in nearly 15 years. "After
I stopped playing I stayed in pretty good shape. Some of the skills have been
dormant for awhile, but I felt them starting to come back near the end there,"
said Dubé, who has spent the last two seasons coaching his son's tyke team. While
Dubé is the old man in the gang, the rest of the Invader hopefuls are a rag tag
mix of former high school stars and CIS graduates like Brandon Weekes who played
high school ball at St. Patrick's. The
team is hoping to recruit a handful of players who would make an immediate impact
like former Ottawa Gee Gees record-breaking pivot Josh Sacobie and Sir Wilfrid
Laurier great Lincoln Bennett. Murphy
figures the coaching staff will see as many as 70 hopefuls go through the paces
over the course of the three tryout sessions. At the end of it all, the coaching
staff will huddle and choose 50 players to invite to the first official practice
on May 18 at Gil-O-Julien Park in Vanier. The
Invaders will kick-off their inaugral season on May 29 against the Oakville Longhorns
at Carleton's Keith Harris Stadium. The
team plans to sell season-ticket packages for $150 and $200. Game-day prices will
be $7 for general admission and $10 for upper-level reserved seating between the
45-yard lines. Kids under 12 will pay just $4, while kids under 18 will get in
free if they’re wearing their NCAFA or high school jersey. (Posted
8:30 a.m., March 17) Return
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