July 2009 Archives

Le jeudi, 12 mars 2009 l'Association de Football de St-Lazare avait tenu son Assemblée Générale Annuelle au Centre Communautaire de St-Lazare. Une trentaine de personnes y avaient assisté dont la majorité comprenait les directeurs de l'association, des entraîneurs, des gérants d'équipe de même que des bénévoles et des parents.

Aprés l'approbation de l'ordre du jour le président de l'asssociation Anson Wiliams avait présenté son bilan de la saison 2008. Il avait parlé de la reussite de deux nouveaux programmes établis au niveau titans et junior dans lesquels il y avait 60 et 45 joueurs participants respectivement. Il avait aussi noté d'autres événements importants tels que le championnat de la ligue LFRN gagné par l'équipe pee-wee AAA et le Jour Mega Day. En suite, il avait parlé des changements aux sélections des endroits des banquets de la fin de la saison à  cause des difficultés veçues l'année précédante au restaurant La Cage aux Sports, le rétard aux installation de l'éclairage sur le terrain #2 du Parc St-Robert et des améliorations à  la manutention de l'équipment. Il avait aussi éxprimé des rémerciements au commanditaire majeur de l'association la société BJAC qui appui beaucoup les Stallions.

Le vice-président de l'association John Spracklin quant à  lui avait aussi mentionné l'appui offert par tous les commanditaires majeurs dont Mega Brands, Eaves Multimedia et Hudson Gazette. En suite, il avait décrit les efforts au niveau de marketing et que l'association avait utilisé des depliants, de la publicité à  la radio et du marchandise promotionnel pour ces fins.

Gisèle Lalonde, qui est responable des inscriptions, avait fait savoir à  tout le monde qu'il y avait 296 joueurs et 65 entraîneurs inscrits pendant la saison 2008 à  tous les niveaux confondus sauf les juniors et qu'il y avait 60 joueurs et six entraîneurs au niveau junior même.

La trésorière Kim Jong avait alors devoilé deux bilans financiers - un qui s'appliquait uniquement à  l'équipe junior et l'autre pour toutes les autres équipes.
On peut les consulter ici ( 217 kB) pour l'équipe junior et ici ( 416 kB) pour toutes les autres équipes.
Dans tous les deux cas on peut remarquer de résultats semblables:

• pour les juniors, malgré de dépenses importants pour l'achat d'equipment et de vêtements des joutes, ils avaient terminé la saison 2008 avec un surplus de $162 grâce à  un don trés généroux de Brian Landry
• pour toutes les autres équipes ensemble, l'association avait cumulé un surplus de $33.912,04 ($8112,28 en 2007) à  cause de deux raisons spécifiques: plus que $25,000 additionnels générés par les frais d'inscription et $9,000 de plus venants des activités des lévées de fonds.

MarkGrogan, qui est le sécretaire de l'association, avait en suite offert son rapport dont les faits saillants étaient :

• la necessité d'attirer et de retenir davantage des bénévoles pour partager la charge de travail;
• le progrés accompli par le comité établi l'année précédante pour élaborer les réglements de l'association et pour mettre en place des procédures exigés par la loi pour les élections des directeurs. Il avait exprimé son engagement d'implementer les réglements dans quelques mois;
• les cours de perfectionnement pour les entraîneurs;
• la sélection de Chuck Brossard et de Benoît Drouin pour les nouveaux postes de directeurs des entraîneurs pour les niveaux mineurs (titans à  pee-wee) et les niveaux élites (bantam à  junior)

Anson Williams avait alors parlé de la condition des terrains de pratiques et de joutes et de la resistance de la ville de St-Lazare d'installer de la surface synthetique.

On avait terminé la reunion avec une séance de questions. Parmi les sujets que l'on avait traité on y trouvait les suivants:

• comment l'association traite-elle les cas des joueurs qui ont des difficultés à  payer les frais d'inscription? Kim Jong avait confirmé qu'il suffit que les joueurs qui se trouvent dans une telle situation contactaient quelqu'une de l'association pour trouver une solution;
• Gérard avait annoncé qu'il avait demmissionné son poste du gérant de la cantine;
• questions à  propos des politiques de la sélection des joueurs gagnants de prix méritas de chaque équipe et qu'il fallait qu'elles soient uniformes et consistentes.

On Thursday, March 12, 2009, the St-Lazare Stallions Football Association held its Annual General Meeting to wrap up the 2008 season.

There were about 30 people in attendance composed mostly of association executives, coaches, managers as well as volunteers and parents.

After approval of the agenda and the minutes of the 2007 season AGM, the president of the association Anson Williams presented his report.

First, he talked about the success of the two new programs which were started in 2008 at the tykes (ages 5-7) and junior (ages 18-22) levels where there were 60 and 45 players respectively. He also noted some specific accomplishments such as the NSFL championship won by the pee-wee AAA team and the Mega Day. He then talked about the changes in the banquet locations due to constraints at the Cage aux Sports restaurant, delays with the lighting system on the second field at Parc St-Robert and improvements in equipment storage. He also expressed his gratitude to BJAC for supporting the Stallions as a major sponsor.

Vice-president John Spracklin, in his own report, also mentioned the major sponsors such as Mega Brands, Eaves Multimedia and the Hudson Gazette. In addition, he described the marketing efforts that were made through pamphlets, radio sds and merchandise.

Gisèle Lalonde then provided information about 2008 registrations which showed 296 players and 65 coaches registered at the levels below junior (tykes to midget, 12 teams) plus 60 players and six coaches at the junior level.

After that, the treasurer Kim Jong presented two separate financial statements - one just for the junior program ( 217 kB) and another for all the other teams ( 416 kB).

Both statements showed that the association was in a very healthy financial condition:

• at the junior level, despite large expenses for player equipment and game uniforms, the program had a $162 surplus. This was due in large part to a generous donation from Brian Landry
• at the other levels, the association showed a surplus of $33,912.04 ($8112.28 in 2007) primarily due to over $25,000 increase in registration fees and $9,000 more in fundraising revenue

Kim finished her report by assuring everyone that all financial records were available for inspection.

The secretary of the association Mark Grogan then presented his report in which he talked about the problem register system that the association uses to keep track of all the major issues which require resolution, including:

• the need to attract and retain more volunteers to share the workload
• the progress made by the governance committee that was set up the year before to draft the bylaws of the association and set up the procedures for electing the association's directors as required by law. He made the committment that this would be implemented within a few months
• coaching clinics which took place
• selection of Chuck Brossard and Benoît Drouin as directors of coaching at the minor level (tykes to pee-wee) and the elite level (bantam to junior) respectively

Anson Williams then talked about the condition of the practice and playing fields and the city of St-Lazare's resistance to install a synthetic playing surface at the Westwood Jr. field.

The meeting finished with a round of questions from the floor. Some of the subjects that were discussed included:

• how does the association deal with players who can't afford to pay the regisration fees. Kim Jong assured everyone that the association makes provisions for this and that all the players who are in such a situation need only to aporoach someone from the association to make the necessary arrangemens
• Gérard announced that he was stepping down as the canteen manager
• establishing a uniform and consistent policy on player recognition and MVP selection

From left to right: Patrick Giroux, Sean Filkin, Quaid Johnson, Ryan Dickson, coach Lonnie Johnson, Kevin Cronn, Olivier Côté-du Sablon and Marc-Antoine Poirier

Stallions players who were on the U-15 and U-17 teams which took part in the Wilson Challenge came away with 2-nd and 4-th place finishes.

In the U-15 category, the NSFL Elites squad met the Monstars team from the MFRL league for the second year in a row. However, unlike a year earlier when the NSFL Elites finished first, this year their opponents won the game 30-21.

In the U-17 category, the QBFL Elites team played for 3-rd place against the Rive Sud de Quebec team. Trailing 17-9 with only a few seconds left in the game, the QBFL-ers managed to score a TD to make it 17-15 and then attempted a 2-point convert to tie the game. They tried a running play and were very close to getting in the end zone but in the end came up just a bit short.

Congratulations to all the Stallions players and coaches who were involved in this tournament.

The first two rounds of play in the U-15 and U-17 categories of the Wilson Challenge have just wrapped up and the finalists have been determined.

In the U-15 category the NSFL Elites team which included several Stallions players got a first round bye because their opponents, Élites Metro Scolaire, withdrew from the tournament at the last moment. It was not as easy in the second round, however, as the NSFL Elites needed  overtime to get by the Montreal Métro team by a score of 21-15. They will now play against the Monstars team representing the MRFL league in the final on Saturday, July 18 at 6 pm at the Molson Stadium.

In the U-17 category, the QBFL Elites sailed through the first round, soundly beating the Laval-Laurentides team 20-12. However, they met a much tougher opponent in the second round played on Thursday, July 16. They were blanked 24-0 by the  U-17 Élites Metro Scolaire team which took advantage of turnovers, including four interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD. The QBFL team will now play for the 3-rd place against the Rive Sud du Québec team on Sunday, July 19, at 1 pm at the Molson Stadium.

The complete information about all the games in the Wilson Challenge can be found below:

The annual Wilson Challenge tournament where the best teams representing civil and school leagues compete for provincial supremacy will include a solid contingent of players from the St-Lazare Stallions this year.

The following seven players were selected after taking part in a tryout camp to be part of the 44-player team that will represent the North Shore Football League in the U-15 category:

• linebackers Olivier Côté-du Sablon and Sean Filkin
• fullback Kevin Cronn
• defensive tackle Ryan Dickson (team captain)
• slotback Patrick Giroux
• quarterback Quaid Johnson (team captain)
• corner back Marc-Antoine Poirier

In addition, Stallions bantam team head coach Lonnie Johnson will be the offensive coordinator.

In the U-17 category, six players and two coaches will be part of the 49-player team that will represent the QBFL league:

• linebacker Alexandre Cloutier
• offensive lineman Kevin Di Sarro
• receiver Maxime Gauthier
• running back Charles-Alexandre Hébert
• quarterback Maxime Trudeau
• defensive back / running back Bryce Vieira

Robert Job and Guy Trudeau will be part of the coaching staff

The U-15 NSFL Elites were scheduled to play their first game on Saturday, July 11 but their opponents, les Appalaches de Beauce, pulled out of the tournament at the last moment which gave the NSFL team a free pass to the next round. Their next game will be on Wednesday, July 15.

The U-17 QBFL team plays its first game on Sunday, July 12 against the Laval-Laurentides team.

The full game schedule is available on the Football Quebec website.

Being a very young football organization the St-Lazare Stallions can not yet boast of having developed players who have gone on to play at the highest levels such as university or even the pros. However, this is changing each year as players who have 'graduated' begin to enter those higher levels of play.

 

One of the first Stallions alumni to distinguish himself is Julian Bailey who was chosen to be part of the national under-20 team that represented Canada at the recently completed Junior World Championship of American Football that took place in Canton, Ohio, where the NFL Hall of Fame is located.

 

Julian, who played for the Stallions from 2001 until 2006 starting with the mosquito team all the way to midget, was Canada's most productive receiver at the tournament. During the three games that Canada played, Julian caught 10 passes for 135 yards and 1 TD. He was also one of three Canadian players to be selected to the first all-star team.

 

In the fall Julian will return to his 'regular' duties as a receiver with the Vanier College football team where he has been playing since 2007, the year when the Cheetahs won the Bol d'Or provincial AAA championship. A year earlier, while he played on the Stallions midget team, he helped the team win the Jack Simpson Cup provincial championship with his three catches for 43 yards and one TD in the final game.

 

With many of the Stallions 'graduates' now entering the university ranks it will be interesting to see how far they will go.