Santino Sparagna, a versatile second-year returner with the Concordia Stingers, has been named the RSEQ Special Teams Player of the Year.
“Santino is a very hard worker,” said Concordia head coach Brad Collinson. “Nothing has been given to him. He’s worked hard for everything he’s gotten.
“Skill-wise, he’s quick, shifty and hard to tackle. He has good hand-eye co-ordination which helps him to catch punts. That’s what you want in a punt-returner. It’s very rare that he lets the ball bounce.”
Sparagna carried a big load for the Stingers, returning punts and kicks as well as earning a spot as a starting receiver in the final five games of 2022.
In eight regular season games he returned 39 punts for 378 yards (9.7 average) and 16 kickoffs for 380 yards (23.8 average). The Montrealer is also a slotback and caught 23 passes for 325 yards. He has 1083 all-purpose yards for an average of 135.4 a game which is the most in the conference.
He has been RSEQ and U Sports Special Teams Player of the Week on two occasions this season
He is the first Stinger to be recognized as the Special Teams Player of the Year. The award was first presented by the RSEQ in 2014.
