Just five days ago over 110 athletes poured into Varsity Centre all with one goal of making it through training camp and helping the Blues to victory this season. As days of power-practice have passed you notice a major strain on your body. Training camp is meant to challenge every person on the field - the more and more you feel it physically, the more you have to rely on your mental strength to get you through the day.
Today’s practice saw a major improvement; every day after practice we watch film, correct our mistakes and expect to never see them again. In order for us to get better and move forward as a team we need to recognize everything we do incorrectly and listen to our coaches in order to fix them. As tough as it was for me in my last blog to give props to the defence, I had to give credit where credit is due. They have taken major strides and our team expects a lot from that side of the ball this year. That being said, the past two days has been dominated by the offence - they have taken big steps and are coming together very nicely.
Fourth-year quarterback Andrew Gillis finally has a group of athletes together this year that will best help complement his style of play. He is being pushed everyday in camp by Jordan Scheltgen, fourth-year quarterback transfer from SFU, and my current roommate. Returning receivers like Michael Prempeh and Johnny Wright have been on point all camp and leading the receiver charge the past couple of days.
In the past years we’ve always heard it from the defensive players, especially the D-line, that the offence isn’t bringing it hard enough and pushing them enough. Well that certainly hasn’t been this case thus far this year.
Second-year receiver Paul de Pass has kept the DB’s on their toes all week, but surprised everyone the most today as he lead the receivers in blocking drills by standing up any opponent he went against. The battle on the line continues day in and day out for both offence and defence. Returning linemen like Josh Gibbs, Mario Tedesco, and Ross Asaro lead the Blues in the trenches and will be crucial in reaching their max potential this season. Our backfield displays the toughest battle for playing time; Coach Ozzie has his hands full as far as decision making goes with a number of quality backs all competing for one spot.
For now it’s time to get to my last power practice of the week, it should be one of the last early morning wake-ups for a couple days as training camp is winding down. Today we have to start preparing for our exhibition game on Saturday against McGill. Although it does not count towards our season it’ll be important for a young team like us to get off to a good start. Let’s get it done Blues!!!
