McGill coaches, players volunteer time for 26th annual Alouettes all-star Classic
MONTREAL - Football players and coaching staffs from McGill, Concordia and the Montreal Carabins have coordinated the , a high school all-star game presented by Groupe Biscuits Leclerc. Over 100 high school players will be competing in the game at Concordia Stadium on Friday, April 30. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Admission is free of charge.
McGill head coach Sonny Wolfe volunteered his time
for the week-long training camp and game, along with Redmen coaches
Matt Connell and Francois
Chagnon, in addition to Redmen players Anthony
Lukca, Ben Thompson, Alexander
Hutchison and Michael Pilon-Piquette.
A Quebec tradition since 1985, the Ligue scolaire métropolitaine, a
Montreal-area high school football league, gathers its best players
each spring for the annual Alouettes Classic. More than 1,000 fans
showed up for the 25th edition in 2009. This year, former Alouette
fullback Michael Soles, a McGill grad, and former
Alouette kicker and current Concordia Stingers' head coach
Gerry McGrath will serve as honourary
captains.
The players from each team were selected by coaches and league directors based on their performances this season both on the field and in the classroom. In preparation for the game, the players began practicing on April 26 and will continue to do so through April 29 at Concordia Stadium.
"The true test of a champion is how he acts when faced with adversity," said Duval, who kicked the Grey Cup-winning field goal last November. "I'm looking forward to being a part of this event and hopefully one day we'll see some of these kids in the CFL!"
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The biggest high school football league in Quebec, the Ligue
scolaire métropolitaine is made up of 35 teams, 100 coaches and
more than 1,500 players. Students playing in the Alouettes Classic
come from 16 areas across the Montreal Metropolitan Region,
including the city itself.
This year's event will feature two new and exciting elements, with
a Quarterback Challenge and a high school cheerleader demonstration
taking place before kickoff and at half-time. The players have had
a chance to learn from the best, with Grey Cup champions and helping out at practice during the past
week.
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Quarterback Challenge & cheerleading
show
In order to feature even more talent from the Ligue scolaire
métropolitaine, the pre-game and half-time shows will include a
brand-new QB Challenge featuring a dozen pivots from all over the
league. The quarterbacks will battle it out in three events testing
their arm strength, speed, accuracy and ability to read the field.
Following the QB Challenge portion of half-time, cheerleaders from
the Association régionale du Sport étudiant de Montréal will take
the field to demonstrate jumps and acrobatic stunts.