Powerful Lions could face tougher competition next year

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

With a strong lineup that has allowed it to maraud over its opposition this season, the Pierrefonds-based North Shore bantam AAA football Lions have admitted playing two games in one.

The coaching staff has said it used its starters in the first half to stake the club to a sizeable lead before inserting its rookies in the second half to mop up. It’s a recipe that staked the Lions to a perfect 10-0 record this season, and one most knowledgeable area pigskin observers agree will allow the Lions to capture its 30th provincial title next month. It’s also a recipe that has allowed the Lions to capture 52 straight regular season and playoff victories.

However, the Lions could be up against some stiffer competition in the future if an idea being bandied about by Quebec Football Association president Pierre Robinette ever comes to fruition - which will by no means be an easy task. In an interview with The Chronicle, Robinette, a former bantam AAA head coach with the Hochelaga- Maisonneuve Archers, proposed taking the best bantam AAA players from Laval, Montreal, the South Shore along with Laurentian to form four strong teams and put them in one super bantam AAA league along with the Lions and possibly one other realigned West Island team.

“Listen, I have no problem with the way the North Shore Lions’ system works,” said Robinette. “It’s a role model for all other bantam teams in the province, and I propose no changes for them. What I’m saying is why not have stronger bantam AAA team representing the best players from every region playing in a more competitive league against the Lions? You can put the rest of the players in an AA league.”

When asked his reaction to the idea, Lions assistant head coach David St. James said the Lions would welcome any stronger competition. Meanwhile, current Sunnybrooke Bombers peewee head coach Hugh Allan, who has coached at almost every level at North Shore and understands the mechanics of area football as well as anyone, said representatives from the Quebec Bantam Football League (QBFL) and Montreal Metro Football League will have to sit down and discuss all options and angles with Football Quebec before any concrete changes can take place.

For his part, Lakeshore Cougars bantam AAA head coach Dave Allen did not like the idea at all, pointing out the QBFL, in which the Lions play is the strongest league in the province.

“Why change things?” Allen asked. “It’s up to all other bantam teams in both leagues, including Lakeshore, to get as good as the Lions.”