How ‘Bout Them Wildcats?!5/18/2022 The Cornwall Wildcats are coming off an extremely successful 2021 fall season in NCAFA at every age level. Their Tyke, Mosquito, Peewee, and Bantam teams all finished their NCAFA seasons with winning records and both their Tyke and Mosquito squads both represented NCAFA at the 2021 Ontario Fall Cup in November at Esthner Shiner Stadium in Toronto. Both squads were able to get wins on the day with their Mosquito squad taking down the Scarborough Thunder 42-18 behind star running back Connor Hamelin’s multiple touchdowns to receive the title of best Mosquito team in the province. The Wildcats will now direct their focus to the newly formed OSFL (Ontario Summer Football League) along with some familiar NCAFA rivals, they will be looking to be competitive in the first year of the OSFL as the smallest community playing in the new league. President of the Cornwall Wildcats Kirby Camplin says
He went on to explain...
“There are definite advantages to being in a small community. Our athletes have a tremendous sense of pride belonging to the local football club.”
There’s a lot to be said about the athletes and coaches having pride in smaller organizations and regions, the Wildcats are based in Cornwall which is a city of around 50,000 people. They rely on development, elite recruiting, and building a culture that the players want to play in to be successful and competitive against much larger organizations and regions. Building on their successful NCAFA season at all levels, The team will be coached by Alex Labonte, a former Ottawa Gee Gee standout, who’s been a longtime Wildcats assistant and coordinator, and the aforementioned longtime president of the Cornwall Wildcats Kirby Camplin on their staff as the offensive coordinator.
”We are excited to see summer football in Ontario finally be under one banner. The creation of the Ontario Summer Football League (OSFL) joins a once fractured football landscape.”
The Wildcats have had success in previous variations of large scale football leagues in Ontario like the OVFL & OFC, but will look to take their previous success to the next level in the new 39 team summer football league. They will be looking to bring some of their talent over from their previous NCAFA teams, local high school teams, and their pipeline recruiting areas to build a skilled varsity team that's ready to contend for an OSFL championship in year one.
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The announcement and proceedings of the brand new OSFL this summer has awakened an old beast in the nation's capital. Two of the most prolific and storied franchises in Canadian amateur Football are going toe to toe in a recruiting battle for the best up and coming football players in theCity of Ottawa. Being the only two teams from Ottawa in the brand new league and recruiting restrictions not being applied like they are in other leagues like NCAFA, both franchises will be pitching the best talent in the nation's capital to come play for them this upcoming season. So the million dollar question for the talent in the Ottawa area is, do you want to be a Panther or a Rider?
Both teams have had undeniable success in every league they’ve played in, and have been, for the most part, bitter rivals in every single one of those leagues. Both clubs are coming off of strong NCAFA campaigns, with all teams at each level having a winning record except one division for both sides. Both Cumberland & Myers have had success in recent variations of summer varsity leagues in the past, with both teams regularly dominating the east division of the OVFL at both the junior varsity and varsity levels. Both teams will have to rely on their recruiting pitches to get the best talent in the Ottawa area. Head coaches for Myers, Christian Nalli for varsity, Ralph Siciliano for junior varsity, and Tony Canonico for bantam are tasked with going head to head in a recruiting battle against head coaches Julien Dasilva (varsity), Mike Schmidt (junior varsity), and Nate Dunlop (bantam) of the Cumberland Panthers. Coach Nalli from Myers says
Referring to the intense rivalry between the two teams. Both clubs have a solid foundation of home grown talent from their NCAFA teams, given both bantam squads records this past NCAFA season. But with only the Panthers fielding a midget team in NCAFA this past year, the recruiting battle is off and running for Ottawa's best talent. Coach Schmidt of the Panthers says
Both teams have already begun announcing their agreements with some of the best talent from other NCAFA organizations like the Nepean Broncos/Eagles, the Bel-Air Norsemen/Lions, the North Gloucester Giants, and the West Ottawa Knights to name a few. Many of the elite players from these organizations will be wearing the black white and red or the blue and white for the first time in the upcoming OSFL season. Many of these players will be going toe to toe with some of their former teammates from their NCAFA upbringings. The rivalry is alive and well in Ottawa once again between Myers & Cumberland, and both coach Schmidt & coach Nalli have high expectations for the upcoming season. Coach Nalli goes on to explain
“We as a team are looking forward to the high level of competition. I’m sure a lot of the other teams will agree also just to get back to what we know as normal, getting back on the field and playing football in front of family, friends and fans. Enjoying life again as we did before the pandemic. Looking forward to OSFL 2022!”
Who will come out on top as Ottawa's best? We’ll have to wait and see. For now, check out some of the best plays in the rivalries history via HESN and stay tuned for some more great content from the upcomingOSFL season.
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