Ottawa football fans can finally get their fill thanks to an Algonquin student

The Ottawa Invaders were started by James McAllister, an avid football player that had nowhere to play. The Invaders are joining the Northern Football Conference (NFC), whose purpose has always been to provide athletes over the age of 19 the opportunity to play football beyond the high school level.

“In Ontario, you can’t play over the age of 22 … For instance I am 23 and have nowhere to play, so that’s why this whole thing started,” said McAllister.

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“I wanted to play football and Algonquin didn’t have a team.”

McAllister, is not only the president but will also be playing with the Invaders for eight games (four away games and four home games) and traveling as far as Sault Ste Marie, which is one of the top teams.
“The Sault take it very serious…we want to model our team after theirs.”

The NFC is a league based in Ontario and for the 2010 season will have 10 teams some of which include the Sault Ste Marie Steelers, Tri City Outlaws, North Bay Bulldogs and of course the Ottawa Invaders.
The champion of the NFC gets to play the champion of a western league, the Alberta Football League (AFL).
Last year the Edmonton Stallions came to Sault Ste. Marie and played the Steelers and were defeated 65-6. It was the second national crown for the Steelers and the second win over the Stallions. This year the NFC champion team will have the opportunity to travel out West to challenge the AFL team. The NFC actually pays for the trip so it is a relief for the players who are covering their own fees so far.

“A long term goal would be for players to not have to pay fees,” McAllister said. The team is a non-profit organization and revenues go towards covering expenses.

The NFC plays with slightly different rules than the CFL. It uses four downs instead of three and no one-yard spacing between the offensive and defensive lines; in other words there is no neutral zone.

The Invaders joining the NFC is a way for Ottawa to get a fill of football before the CFL comes back.
“We’re trying to fill the void … from now till [Ottawa] has a professional football team,” McAllister said. “Ottawa is a big city and to not have a quality football team? For people who like football, like myself, they have nothing.”

The turn out and interest is clear. The Invaders’ website has had close to 10,000 hits, and a lot of players have shown interest in trying out.

“It’s a very good thing, now we have a lot of guys and lots of depth and we can have try-outs, make cuts and develop our team.”
Try outs start on March 21 and go for three weeks. Practices will be held at Gil-O-Julien Park and games will hopefully be played at Keith Harris Stadium but that is not secured yet.

“We really hope we get it, it’s such a fantastic location.”

The last semi-pro football teams in Ottawa were part of the Empire Football League (EFL) which no longer exists in Canada because of logistical issues, mainly involving problems at the border, crossing in and out to play games. The team is now remaining an upstate New York-based semi-pro league.

General manager, Sean Murphy, is an Algonquin graduate with a three year business degree and 25 years of experience playing and coaching football. When it comes to concerns related to past football success, or lack thereof, Murphy feels that separating his team and keeping it solely Ottawa-based will greatly benefit its success. The last team, the Demon Deacons, had no real ties to Ottawa, because they were from Montreal.

Vice president Erik Faucon, also an Algonquin graduate of the recreation and leisure program agrees,
“we said from day one when we initially met, that was an issue … we have to make it completely different, different colours, different name, different coaches and staff.”

Faucon will also be playing for the team and has over nine years of playing and coaching experience.
“The biggest thing I’m excited about is the opening game. The home opener and seeing all the fans, seeing the coaching staff, seeing the players in our colours … and the whole atmosphere of the home opener is what I’m most excited for,” said Faucon. “We are putting a lot of time and effort into our home opener; we want to make a big splash.”

The coach, Ken Evraire, grew up in Ottawa and was a sportscaster on the new RO and also played in the CFL for the Roughriders.

The home opener will be played on May 29 against the Oakville Longhorns, and the main short-term goal for the team is to build a presence and have a backing in Ottawa, and, of course, go undefeated.