Spears back on field
The Niagara Spears’ skills and drills camp at Kiwanis Field is a big hit with the local players taking part in the Monday and Wednesday sessions.
“After the season was cancelled, it is everything you could have hoped for,” said Grimsby resident Jacob Kohut. ” You get football ripped away from you and now you just want to get out here even without the contact.
“It’s physical activity and it’s football and you can’t get much better than this.”
It is also a chance for the Blessed Trinity graduate to see some of his football friends.
“I wish that there were more seniors showing up but it is what it is,” he said. “We are grateful for the people who come out.”
Kohut described losing the Spears season because of the COVID-19 pandemic as brutal.
“I had just come off my first season with the Spears and I was really starting to learn the defence and I was having a great year,” the 19-year-old said. “This was going to be my breakout year.”
Kohut was doing excellent at the team’s indoor workouts at Youngs Sportsplex when news broke that the season was cancelled.
“My family and I were just gutted.”
Kohut, who is starting the electrical techniques program at Niagara College this fall, was planning on playing with the Hamilton Hurricanes of the Canadian Junior Football League this fall but that too has been cancelled.
“This would have been my last season with the Spears and I couldn’t have come back even if I wanted to,” the 6-foot-4, 230-pound defensive end said.
Long-time Stamford/Westlane and Spears coach Brad Martin was clearly enjoying coaching again even as a steady rain fell during a session last week.
“A lot of these kids were itching to get out here because it has been a hard on them,” he said. “They are glad to be out playing football, learning and seeing their friends and teammates in an environment which is just them.
The program started two weeks ago and will run into October.
“We would like to get to the point where we can get some pads on and some intrasquad would be the ultimate,” Martin said. “These kids are itching to play and we are itching to coach them and play some games.”
When BPSN visited, Martin was working with the linemen.
“It’s more fundamentals like footwork and hand placement,” he said. “It’s a benefit because they can really slow things down and work on their craft. This is a good opportunity for kids to get out and keep learning which is huge.”
Each session runs from 8:30 to 8 p.m. Pandemic regulations allow for 40 players and 10 coaches on the field at any one time. Bantam, junior varsity and varsity players are taking part in the program.
“There was a lot of excitement for the kids,” Spears varsity coach Brian Duguay said. “You could see it in their eyes the first day. We are getting the skills and technique down but we are trying to make it fun.”
Early on in the summer, there was talk about the Spears playing a fall schedule if high school football was cancelled, but that is not going to happen.
“I haven’t heard anything, but with the CFL, USPORTS and everyone else cancelling, I don’t think it is going to happen,” Duguay said. “I think it is the right move.”
Like his players, Duguay has been struggling with the loss of football.
“It is the hardest thing I have ever done and it has been hard for everybody,” he said. “Some of the players have had mental health issues because this was their home. They get to come out, be with their peers and have a little bit of excitement and then everyone was locked down.”
Duguay feels especially bad for the players who were looking forward to their rookie season of university football and the 12B players who were going back to school to solidify scholarship offers.
“I was talking to Zach Melnyk today when he came in and he was all ready to go to for his first year of university,” he said. “The unknowns are so hard and their first taste of university is doing on-line courses.”
And while having courses on-line is a necessity, it doesn’t work for everyone.
“What happens if your are not strong enough (academically) and you need that interaction,” Duguay said.
The long-time Spears coach is now putting his hopes on having a 2021 season.
“I believe there is going to be a season next year and it is going to come down to what happens with the vaccine or no vaccine.”
The Spears hope to begin indoor training early next year to get ready for the 2021 season.
“If that doesn’t work out, we will just do what the league used to do,” Duguay said. “We will start April 1 and work harder that way.”
