Quebec Junior football League returns to region

It was the beginning of a new era on Sunday as the Quebec Junior Football League returned to the region, albeit with a different team and location.

The expansion St. Lazare junior Stallions kicked off what it hopes will be a long and successful run with a game against the Joliette Pirates at Westwood Park in St. Lazare. For those keeping track, and for trivia buffs, the inaugural contest involving the junior Stallions ended in an exciting 31-27 victory.

The arrival of the junior Stallions, which only became a reality after its owners, the St. Lazare Football Association, was satisfied that a sufficient number of players showed up at its initial training camp last spring, helps fill a void in local pigskin circles. It opens up an opportunity for 18-22-year-old gridders that did not have the opportunity to play CEGEP or University football a chance to strap on the pads for at least a few more years. The Stallions replace the now defunct North Shore Broncos, which folded its tent in April 2007 after the North Shore Football League decided it was not in the business of operating and financing a junior football team.

“We’re very happy to have junior football back in the region, and St. Lazare in particular,” said St. Lazare Football Association president Anson Williams. “We had a half dozen guys from North Shore, Lakeshore, others from Valleyfield to our training camp in March. These guys bring football experience, so it’s not like our team will be full of 18-year-olds. We also have guys from St. Laurent.”

Despite the presence of on-island veterans, the bulk of the junior Stallions roster will be comprised of off-island performers, particularly from St. Lazare west.

“This will not be an inner-city team,” said Stallions head coach Allan Williams, who coached high school last year at Loyola but is best known in local football circles for putting in yeoman work with the St. Laurent Football Association. “Let’s face it. The West Island, especially Pierrefonds where the Broncos used to play, has become an inner-city situation. It’s easily accessible to now by bus and Metro. This team will not have the same problems typical of inner-city clubs. We’re based in St. Lazare, an off-island area that does not have the social and economic problems as inner-city areas.”

The Broncos’ off-field image was tarred at the end of its existence. Nasty incidents such as the one that occurred a few years ago at Riverdale High School in Pierrefonds, which saw a spectator come on the field at halftime and pull a knife on one of the Broncos players was an example.

“Things like that won’t happen with us,” said Allan Williams. “I promise you that. We’ll concentrate on football, and in that area, we’ll keep it simple. We will not be like the Broncos at the end of their existence. Our team will not take too many silly penalties, nor will it have an inner-city attitude, on or off the field.”

For more information on the junior Stallions, go to www.stallionsfootball.ca.