McGill trio to play pro football in France


MONTREAL – Three former team captains with the McGill University Redmen have signed contracts to play semi-pro football in France.

Charles-Antoine Sinotte of Trois-Rivieres, Que., and Anthony Lukca of St. Laurent, Que., will play for the Grenoble Centaures, while Jonathan Bower of Calgary will suit up for the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes.

Both squads are among eight teams that compete in the Ligue Élite de Football Américain, which is entering its 30th year of operation, from mid-January to the end of June. Grenoble joins the Argonautes in Division 1 after winning the Div. 2 championship last year.

McGill has had a long association with football in France, dating back to 1993 when the Redmen were invited overseas to play a game. Since then, a number of grads have gone on to play in France, including Matt Connell, Guillaume Roy, Matthieu Quiviger, Jonathan Csoman, Jean-Nicolas Lavoie, Jerome Coulet and Alex Trepanier.

Francois Chagnon (an assistant coach with the Redmen), played a major role in helping us get an opportunity to play France,” said Lukca, a former all-star defensive back who coached the Redmen last year. “He has many contacts in Europe and runs a summer football camp in France.”

Sinotte, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver who earned all-conference honours three times and was a CIS all-Canadian in 2008, is expected to play at both quarterback and receiver, in addition to serving as the team’s offensive coordinator. Over his five seasons, the 23-year-old physical education major racked up a CIS record 251 receptions for a school record 2,935 yards and 14 touchdowns in 39 career games. Prior to enrolling at McGill, Sinotte played at College Trois-Rivieres.

Lukca will be playing on both sides of the ball, at running back and strong safety. He was an all-conference defensive with the Redmen, where he also served as the team’s long-snapper. The 5-foot-10, 204-pound physical education major was credited with 209 total tackles, four knockdowns and seven interceptions in 35 career contests. Lukca, 24, played his high school ball at College Notre-Dame and was named captain of the team in 2002. He moved on to Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school in Wallingford, Conn., where he was again named captain of the varsity team.

Bower, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound offensive lineman who played his first few years on the defensive line at McGill, is expected to play on both sides of the ball with the Argonautes. Bower, 23, who joined the Redmen out of Western Canada high school in 2006, graduated this semester with a civil engineering degree.

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(LEFT TO RIGHT: CHARLES-ANTOINE SINOTTE, ANTHONY LUKCA, JONATHAN BOWER)

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Advocating for football prospects one story at a time.

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