Wolves looking forward to next season
The St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves are already hard at work preparing for the 2022 season.
The Wolves completed their inaugural season in the League1 Ontario Men’s Premier Division with a respectable 3-3-1 record and are now looking to take the next step forward in their development.
“The goal is try to keep the best players, the core with us,” head coach Federico Turriziani said. “Obviously we have to improve, to find areas to be better. This season was great, but we want to try to do something better. I’m very happy for what happened this season but the challenge is every time to do something more, do something better.
“We are inspired to change the mentality, to bring this to a more professional level and professional organization.”
To that end, the Wolves have set up player ID sessions for both their League1 and U21 reserve squad starting Thursday.
“It will go on for about 10 sessions into December,” director of operations Carmine Provenzano said. “There will be some outdoor sessions, some indoor sessions.
“We’ve got a lot of interest in that and coach is going to be here for a few weeks to evaluate some of the players and then he’s going to head back to Italy. We’ll bring him back sometime early in the spring before the tryouts for next season.”
Looking back at last season, Wolves assistant coach Davide Massafra was gratified to see so many good players from Niagara make the final roster.
“I think the best thing for me and for the club was to see the talent we have in our region and how we deserve to have a League1 license,” he said. “When the fans came, so many people, and the national anthem, it was so beautiful to see in it in the region.
“It was the best feeling. It was great, it was amazing.”
Provenzano reflected back on the club’s first season with a great deal of satisfaction.
“The vision was there, but it was just how quickly can we get to that vision,” he said. “My vision is a lot further than what it was last year. To hit that in a first year was stunning, it was great.
“On the field the team was fairly strong and competed every game. I don’t think lost we a game by more than one goal.”
The Wolves managed to put together such a strong season despite the absence of their head coach.
Turriziani, a 40-year-old native of Italy, was unable come to Canada due to the COVID pandemic. He was still able to provide input to Massafra and Provenzano through video chats, although, all three agree it wasn’t easy.
“It was very frustrating,” Turriziani said. “It was tough to manage. For months and month we worked on line, on Zoom calls, video calls and meetings. We tried to set up everything and then when I realized I could not be here in person, it was very hard to accept, but we tried to figure it out with these two guys and they did a great job.
“I’m lucky because they supported me. Everyday I was in contact with them.”
Turriziani then joked perhaps coaching via Zoom will become the norm.
“It’s a new way to coach,” he smiled. “Coaching 2.0.”
Provenzano agreed coaching via video chats was a difficult way to kick off the team’s first season.
“Oh, it wasn’t easy,” he said. “You know, we started in January talking on Zoom, setting up the season, training sessions, tryouts, all that kind of stuff. The league kept pushing dates back and then we’re looking at international travel. These two guys stayed together as much as they could, talking back and forth, and understanding the practice plans and all that kind of stuff. They did a real great job at a distance.”
The Wolves plan to run both League1 and reserve teams next season and are also exploring the possibility of fielding a League1 woman’s team in the near future. League1 fielded seven women’s premier division teams and 10 women’s reserve teams last season.
The ID sessions will run from Nov. 4 to Dec. 13 from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Young’s Recreational Facility in Welland.
Fees are $175 per player. ETransfer to accounting@stcromawolves.com.
Contact for more info: carmine@stcromawolves.com.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 3,600 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
