Some Ottawa-area footballers are hoping the Carleton Ravens varsity program is revived so they can tryout for the team.
Mitch Spence, 18, is a wide receiver for the Ottawa Myers Riders completing a high school victory lap, and has applied to university for the fall.
In addition to Carleton, he has applied to the University of Ottawa and Queen’s University — both schools with varsity footballs teams. If Carleton ends up having the varsity program, Spence said that would be a reason he might pick Carleton over the other schools.
“It’s a growing game across Canada and I just think it just doesn’t feel the same without it,” said Spence, who was a 2010 Quebec Junior Football League all-star and the league’s rookie of the year.
Spence said he knows fellow Riders players at Carleton who would be interested in playing for the Ravens as well.
“They’re going to Carleton for academic reasons and they don’t have a football team to play on,” Spence said. “It’d be exposure for those guys and for a lot of incoming players because it’d be a new team. It’s just a great experience to be a part of.”
His teammate, full back and defensive lineman Junior Peter, 20, is currently attending the University of Ottawa part time. He said wanted to join the Gee-Gees football team but could not as a part-time student. He said he is dropping out because he doesn’t like the school and wants to go to Carleton.
“I can’t take it here anymore because I’m not playing football for them,” Peter said. “It just doesn’t feel the same because I’m not playing sports.”
Peter is applying to Carleton for fall 2011 and said he hopes the Ravens football team is re-established.
“If Carleton comes to it, I’d love to play against Ottawa U.”
When asked if he would rather be a Raven than a Gee-Gee, he replied “What is a Gee-Gee anyway?”
If he can’t play on a football team while attending school, Peter said he is going to join the military.
Andy McEvoy, head coach of the Ottawa Sooners — an Ontario Football Conference club — and former coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees (1991-2001) said having a second university football team in the city would be beneficial to local players.
“I know having another team in the city is a great thing for football, especially for the local community, for student athletes,” McEvoy said.
“It’s a chance to stay home and have two options to play football,” he added.
McEvoy said he hasn’t heard of a lot of interest yet, but thinks once the Ravens team has officially been established, high school footballers will start to take notice.
Jennifer Brenning, Carleton’s director of recreation and athletics, said the school has had inquiries from potential students interested in playing on the team, but she can’t promise the team will officially suit up next fall.
“I can’t say for sure that we’re going to have a program at this point,” Brenning said. “There’s a lot of work still ahead in the next few months and then if all of those objectives are met then we can certainly announce that publicly and to students.”
Carleton must submit its intent to enter the Ontario University Athletics league by May, so April is the absolute deadline to have funding requirements met for the self-sufficient team.
If the team is revived, the Panda Game, an annual match against the cross-town rival Gee-Gees, will also be reinstated, Brenning said.
“I think it would be crazy to have the Gee-Gees play the Ravens again in a football game again,” Spence said. “You open up Lansdowne, you’d probably get a solid 20,000 people there. It’s such a great time and it’s such a great sport for a lot of people.”