Friday night football games begin, indoors

By Lauren Lakanen

A winter weekend game of pick-up hockey is not an unusual pastime for many, especially here in the North. 

However, hockey may have to make room for a new standby game.  Every Friday night at 9 pm, close to 20 pick-up players gather to play indoor touch football and they are extending an open invitation to anyone who'd like to join them at the Indoor Soccer Centre, located off Falconbridge Highway. 

After the Indoor Football Training Program for high school students was completed, co-coordinator  Brandon Dougan noticed an available time-slot and booked it for games of touch football.  The reason, he explained, is "to have fun and play touch football with my teammates and with anyone else who would like to come out and play." For the continued growth of the game, all new interest is welcome.

Dougan is also the head coach of the boys' football team at Confederation.

The Sudbury Spartans represent a proud history in the local sporting community and are always looking for new and fresh talent in order to be able to compete in the Northern Football Conference (NFC).  Pick-up touch football is a chance for younger players to come out and demonstrate their skill in an environment that is supportive and free of intimidation.  But just as importantly, these Friday night games also provide practice and physical activity to people who cannot, or do not wish to, play competitively in the summer.

The players competing are comprised mainly of new and returning members of the Spartans.  After a long winter, the 2008 Spartan team is set to participate in the 54th annual season of the Northern Football Conference (NFC) and many members of the roster are taking advantage of the chance to practice and socialize at the Indoor Soccer Centre.  Veterans of the team such as Brent Richer, Dan Leduc, Kevin White, Steve Gravel, Eric Paquette, Reg Bonin, Matt Furino, and Joe Kerr enjoy connecting with each other after time away, re-building interest and enthusiasm for the upcoming season.

Newer members of the team also encourage people to come out and get involved.  Kyle Henri, 20, played for the Spartans in the 2006 season and has been participating in the touch football games for the past month.  As defensive tackle and centre, Henri values the skills he is picking up in this informal environment.

"It is really satisfying to work as a team towards meeting the same goal," Henri said. "This is a great learning experience."   

Not only are these games a learning experience for greener players, they are also an opportunity for senior players to pass down skills and take on a mentorship role; which is vital to the continuation of this sport in Sudbury.  Spartans coach, Chris Bartolucci, encourages the pick-up games for this reason as well.  He believes that "good, quality players (like Kevin White) want to coach younger players" and this helps them increase both the quality of the player and the amount of time he spends on the field. 

However, not everyone who plays touch football on Friday nights is a Spartan.  Mike Switzer, 19, played running back for the Confederation Chargers during high school.  He has played in three games so far at the indoor centre and decided to do so with encouragement from his former coach Dougan.  Henri also played football for Confederation Secondary School under coach Kevin Elsworth.  Friday nights allow them the chance to play alongside the men who taught them how to play the game.

Paquette, 27, plays running back and anxiously waits for the weekends so he can head to the indoor centre.  For Eric, football "means everything".  He, like many other players, keeps an eye on the Facebook group, maintained by Brent Richer, for information regarding the pick-up games.  He invites others to jump at the chance to have fun and play in an environment that he believes is both supportive and social.

Five dollars at the door is all interested players need in order to participate each Friday night for an hour-and-a-half of exercise, informal (no coaches present) games, skill development, and socializing.