Als Classic key in developing future talent

Disclaimer: Every once in a while, I’m put into a conflict of interest because The Examiner is only a part-time gig.

I’ve mentioned it before, but my full-time job is working in the Montreal Alouettes communications department doing everything from media relations to running the team’s website and some graphic design.

The reason I’m pointing it out here is that, by definition, writing anything about the Alouettes – and the CFL in general, for that matter – is a conflict for me.

Essentially, journalists aren’t supposed to write about things in which they have a vested interest or are a part of like me with the Als.

The problem in this case, is that I’d be remiss to let an event like the Alouettes Classic high school All-Star game go by without mentioning its value to the community.

So you’ll just have to trust me that I’m writing this from a neutral standpoint from with I will tell you that I really believe in this event.

It doesn’t matter who won between Team Pierre Vercheval and Team Michael Soles, although I will tell you that Vercheval won by a 10-point margin for the record.

The stats aren’t really that important either – although, I’ll mention here that at least one player had an impressive seven catches for 123 and a touchdown.

No, what’s important here is the experience the kids got, and from a local standpoint, it was a great night.

Taking the field from Westmount were Selwyn House School’s Greg Rossy, Ryan Egger, Marc-André Fernandez, Marc Heron, Oliver Maurovich, Gordon Paterson and kicker Kevin Paul.

The most notable performance from that crew came form kicker Paul, as he nailed field goals from 32 and 38 yards away for Team Vercheval.

But the key to the game was that Paul and the others were able to have a big-league experience playing at the Alouettes’ own Percival Molson Stadium in front of a small, but boisterous crowd of fans, friends and parents.

They got to see what it would be like if they were to pursue football to the highest level and maybe run out in front of a crowd of 20,000-plus at that same stadium.

For three hours last Friday night, these kids got to experience what it would like to be a pro.

A decade ago, there were only a few notable Quebec-born players in the CFL and very little hope for this province to produce potential NFL-calibre talent.

Today, because of the proliferation of football in the province and events like the Alouettes Classic, not only is the Canadian league rife with Quebec-born talent from both major language groups, but players like Étienne Boulay and Samuel Giguère are signing tryout contracts for the National Football League.

So maybe we’re breaking a rule or two here by wearing both hats in a newspaper column, but like I said, I’d be remiss not to point out the value of an event like this for the community.

As a result, maybe sometime in the near future a great CFL star may emerge from Westmount or another unexpected part of town. If so, we just might have the Alouettes Classic to thank.