Head coach Gerry McGrath welcomed approximately 95 football players to the Concordia Stingers 2012 training camp this morning.
Fifty-five veterans will be challenged by 40 rookies, including top recruits like receiver/returner Deonte Cooper, offensive tackle Roman Grozman and linebacker Mikael Charland.
The first couple of days are devoted to equipment issue, physical testing and paperwork. But the action on the field gets under way on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m very excited,” said McGrath who is now in his 13th season at the helm of the Stingers. “A lot of good work was done in the off-season, especially by our players in the weight room. I think it’s going to be a very competitive camp across the board.”
There will be a lot of key situations and battles to watch.
Second-year quarterback Reid Quest will take charge of the offence from Day 1, and it will be interesting to see what he does with a year of experience under his belt.
McGrath will be closely watching the action at offensive line.
“I’d say this will be the most competitive camp at o-line that I have seen,” he said. “There will be a real battle with about eight guys fighting for the five starting spots.”
The receivers will also be highly competitive with more than 20 in camp. McGrath says 12 or 13 are ready play right now.
On defence, the linebackers will be entertaining to watch. There are a lot of veterans like President’s Trophy recipient Max Caron, fifth-year man Christian Walcott and Marc-André Lewis. Putting pressure on those three will be Travis Bent, who McGrath predicts will have a breakout year, and of course Charland who started school in January and had a great spring camp.
“At six foot three and 220 pounds, Mikael Charland could be the best athlete out of all of them,” McGrath said.
Football fans will get a chance to look at the 2012 squad on Friday, Aug. 24 when the Stingers host an exhibition game with the Toronto Varsity Blues. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at Concordia Stadium.
