Cougars cautiously optimistic
Centennial football coach Dom Nero isn’t making any bold predictions for his team heading into its Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier 1 opener Thursday night against the defending champion A.N. Myer Marauders.
“It’s a new team for me,” he said. “I am back here after a couple of years of bouncing around so it’s a new group and I don’t know what to expect.”
Nero describes himself as cautiously optimistic.
“I want to be competitive and, to me, the wins and losses are not going to be important for us,” he said. “What is important is that we compete and that at the end of the year, teams know who Centennial is and we are there to compete.”
Centennial has a 34-man roster on its senior team and a further 35 players suited up for its junior squad.
“There’s already has been problems with injuries and work-related things and the unfortunate thing I find nowadays with sports is you don’t necessarily get the level of commitment that you hoped you would,” Nero said. “But when we have everybody, we are 30 strong and we have the potential to be competitive.”
Crucial to being competitive at the senior level is running a junior program.
“That’s a big thing and no matter what our numbers look like I would never want to get rid of our junior program,” Nero said. “We try to build as much as we can through the junior program.
“Sitting on the sidelines in Grade 9 and 10 watching senior football is not going to make you a better football player.”
Among the better football players on Centennial are Mike Thornton who provides the skill and Sam Gielfeldt who adds the brawn.
“I would put Thornton up against anybody in our league in terms of just pure talent and speed,” Nero said. “A team like A.N. Myer that really likes to match up one-on-one and test skill position versus skill position, I would put him up against anyone.”
Gielfeldt plays on both the offensive and defensive lines for Centennial.
“He was really big for us last year in Grade 11 year and he’s grown and gotten better,” Nero said. “He’s a really smart player , he’s an anchor for our defensive line and he allows us to do different things and give different looks.”
This season, Nero wants to see Gielfeldt get even better.
“The one question with him a bit of the time is the physical aspect of the game and seeing how he responds to a lot of the challenges from those bigger and meaner players that he goes up against,” he said. “And also the cardio side of things. I want to see him from Minute One to the end be that same player we can rely on.”
The 17-year-old agrees with both those assessments.
“I am hoping to develop my skills more, but really develop more of a competitive edge because I have always been a little more restrained,” the 6-foot-3, 295 pounder said. “I am really trying to push myself and bring out the beast in me.”
He won’t be eating raw meat to gain that aggression, but rather working on a more physical mindset.
“I have always been doing stuff to keep me out of that mindset so I need to do the opposite and get in with the guys and get everyone hyped up.”
The cardio component will also be crucial for the two-way player.
“I’ve definitely had struggles with cardio in the past, but I have been training in the off-season for that,” he said. “And with all the conditioning we are doing now, it will definitely improve.”
The Grade 12 student is more than cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances.
“He (Nero) is running a tight ship, he knows what he is doing, he is controlling the team in a good way and I think that is going to be really positive for the team,” Gielfeldt said. “I think we should be able to do fairly well and I am really hoping that we can go all the way.”
He has been playing since he was eight years ago, starting in Niagara Regional Minor Football and then graduating to the Niagara Spears and Generals. This past season, he was a starter on the Niagara Spears Varsity squad but was hampered by injuries, including an ACL injury and a high ankle sprain.
Gielfeldt has already had scholarship interest from a number of schools and would love to play football at the post-secondary level. He plans to graduate in the spring on 2019.
“I have a lot of future goals and I want to get out and do my own thing.”
