WEST CARLETON – While it may be getting pretty cold, it’s never too cold to talk West Carleton football. For the most part the football season has ended in this part of the world but football news is a 365-day thing.

Three West Carleton football players are part of the Ottawa Sooners team that qualified for this year’s World Youth Football Championship (WYFC) starting today (Dec. 11). The Sooners call the Megadome Sooners-CECCE d’Ottawa located at Stittsville’s Paul Desmarais Secondary School their home and 26 Ottawa Sooners bantam players won the WYFC – North Atlantic Regionals in Philadelphia. The team won the Ontario Provincial Championship last summer to qualify the team to compete in the North Atlantic Regionals.

With a 32-6 win over the Ridge Red Devils of Basking Ridge, NJ, in the Regionals, the Sooners qualified for the once in a lifetime opportunity to compete in the World Youth Football Championship (WYFC) at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Sooners are the first Canadian team to qualify for the WYFC being held from Dec. 11 to 15.

The team roster is represented by players aged 13 and 14 from across the Ottawa region and from as far away as Cornwall. Three of this year’s Ottawa Sooners Selects are players from West Carleton – Simon Briggs, Keegan Brunet and Carter Kaspardlov. The rest of the Sooners Selects include, from Stittsville-Kanata Dylan Allarie, Dante Clark, Wes Fahey, Nathan Ferrar, Martin Kassahun, Josh Kibbee, Owen Kibbee, Sheldon Marcus, Malcolm McEvoy, Cyril Shinagrov and Joshua Thelen. From Barrhaven-Nepean, Joe Cama, Rocco Crupi, Owen Lavigne, Jerry Momo, Logan Paulin. and Jacob Saumier. From Richmond Jack Ashby-Jacobs, Darcy Castellarin, and Caleb Munro. From Gloucester Jackob Branton and Dylan Nakamura. From Cornwall, Xavier Uhr.

“This is a special opportunity for our 26 players, the coaching staff and the Ottawa Sooners Football Club”, head coach Warren Steeves said in a recent interview. “In reality, this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for these kids, who will never forget these moments. The chance to play for a U.S. National Championship is one thing for U.S. teams but something monumental for a Canadian team to compete against our American counterparts.”

The tournament is played at the Canton Football Hall of Fame in Ohio.

The Ottawa Sooners are still seeking sponsors to provide financial support to the team in offsetting some of the travel costs. If you are a business owner or work for a business or an individual that would like to support the team, a GoFundMe page has been set-up by Team Manager, Christine Lavigne. To support the team visit — https://www.gofundme.com/f/ottawa-sooners-u14-football-team or you can email Christine at christine.lavigne@yahoo.ca.

The Ottawa Sooners, established in 1960, have been a mainstay of the Ottawa football landscape. The Sooners were National Junior Football Champions (1974, 1979, 1984, 1992), ORFU League Champions (1970) and Quebec Junior Football League Champions (1997, 2001, 2002).

Several Wolverines make NCAFA all-star team

WEST CARLETON – While football is the ultimate team sport, it takes a group of individuals to make that team. And this year, many of those individuals are all-stars.

The National Capital Amateur Football Association (NCAFA) released its 2019 all-star list yesterday (Dec. 10) and its dotted with West Carleton Wolverine players. The peewee Wolverines had a .500 team on the field this year, and five players made the NCAFA All-Star team.

Wolverine quarterback Keegan Brunet, who also made the Ottawa Sooners Selects team (see story above) showed athleticism both throwing and running the ball all season long. Also making the all-star team was power running back Owen Redmond, defensive lineman Carter Kaspardlov, linebacker Lucas Efler-Murphy and wide receiver Lochlann Carey.

“Congratulations to the 2019 NCAFA peewee West Carleton Wolverines Football Club All-Star selections,” NCAFA released in a statement.
NCAFA only names all-stars for its bantam and peewee teams.

“As coaches we really wanted to emphasize the importance of progression over the season so we would end up playing our best ball when it counted,” coach Brian Lowe told West Carleton Online at the end of the season. “The kids saved their best for the last game which was nothing short of a tremendous showing of determination, dedication and desire. Kids were asked to play different positions for the final game, and they all pulled together, played for each other, played with immense heart and left it all out on the field. I can honestly say, I couldn’t have been more proud as a coach.”