BY JASON
THOMPSON
In a land where soccer is called football, and where football
as Westerners know it is called American football, a group of
pigskin players hope to do their country proud as
they represent Canada in exhibition games to be played in
Europe.
With 11 players from Greater Sudbury on the roster, 44 players
are taking part in Euro Tour North and will play three
exhibition games with teams from England, Germany and Austria.
The tour started Aug. 15 and will wrap up Aug. 29.
"It's a great experience for these kids at this age," said
head coach Frank Rocca. "The players are a lot better than we
anticipated."
 The Canadian team is comprised of players from across the
province aged 15 to 22 with anywhere from high school to
university playing experience. A number of the players have
played in the OVFL and the NFC.
Rocca assembled his team in Sudbury Aug. 11 and held three
full days of practice at Queen's Athletic Field to get his team
ready for the European competition.
"We really worked the kids hard," he said. "They're picking
up this stuff really quickly and they're opening up the play
book, which is nice to see. These guys are really motivated."
The players don't seem to mind the gruelling practice, so
long as it gets them a trip to Europe.
"Definitely, I'm really excited to go to Europe," said Austin Roy, 15, who played for the Sudbury Secondary School Northstars last season.
"(Frank's) a great coach and I've learned a lot from him. He
basically taught me how to be a lineman all over again.
With all of my other coaches I thought I learned something
but with Frank you learn so much and your game gets better."
Roy hopes to give the European teams a run for their money
and said the skill on the Canadian squad is incredible.
"When you play with the best, it really drives you to
compete," he said.
Roy will also have the advantage of being able to play and travel with his brother, Nik, who has also earned a spot on
the team. The Roy brothers are among the youngest players on
the team.
"It's sweet. I'm excited because I've never been there. It's
the best thing to happen to me," said Nik, 16, who just
finished last season with the Sudbury Northerners.
"We've been playing together forever," Nik said of his
brother. "When we heard some spots were open on the team, me
and Austin jumped on the bandwagon."
Rocca, who played four seasons of professional American
football in Europe, said his team will require some adjustments
to adapt to the way the game is played overseas.
"Depending on where you travel in Europe, there are places
where it's a very strong sport and there's other places where
it's not so much. We're travelling to Germany and people there
are very passionate about their football," he said.
Watching how Rocca interacts with his players, it's evident
he likes to keep things loose on the field, joking around and
having a good time.
"I think if there's one thing I've tried to make a point of is that there's all sorts of different guys from all sorts of different places and backgrounds and to build team chemistry and help them gel, I've promoted the idea of guys having a little fun with each other, having a laugh or singing a song here and there. It makes it that much more special and it helps everybody feel more like a team."
Mark Agha, who was born in New Jersey but now lives in Toronto,
said the team atmosphere has been great and expects a tough
challenge when they kick-off with the competition.
Agha has already earned his place on the team and is
affectionately known as Vin Diesel. Removing his baseball cap,
Agha is nearly a mirror image of the Hollywood action star.
"I expect them to give a tough challenge and for our
individual boundaries and restraints to be tested," he said.
"Overall, I feel we'll have to overcome a large learning curve because we'll be playing against players who could be up to 35-years old. I'm looking forward to it and I'm hoping I can contribute to the team as much as I can."
Another player from southern Ontario, Alex Mayer, 18, said he's
excited about a chance to play in a professional stadium with
thousands of seats and with grass-like turf.
"We've heard rumours that they held a semi-final game and
they sold out the stadium," said Mayer who says there has been
a good amount of publicity overseas for the exhibition games
and hopes to see lots of sports fans filling the seats.
Regardless of how his team fares against the European teams,
Rocca believes this is a big opportunity for the players to
learn a lot about sport and culture.
"Anytime you play football you're improving as a player and for kids to have an opportunity like this and improve over the summer it really says a lot about how serious these guys are as football players and it will help them on whatever team they're on in the future," said Rocca.
