Photographer: Kevin Hirschfield
Piecing together any football team is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle. But putting together a squad of players with already-established rivalries – a healthy hate-on for each other, so to speak – is liking slamming together the jigsaw in a roomful of junkyard dogs.
Just ask Don Burrell, the former Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back who is the head coach of the Manitoba Gold entry at the 2016 Canada Cup, opening Saturday at Investors Group Field and featuring some of the country’s top under-18 players.
“It’s a different animal putting together a team like this when they are from all of these different schools and backgrounds,” began Burrell in a chat with bluebombers.com this week. “You’re asking them to be a team, but for the majority of their playing days, they’re going against each other. For instance, Vincent Massey kids have had no love for St. Paul’s kids because, more than likely, at some point in time they’re playing against each other for a championship or in the playoffs.
“It’s been a tough thing for me to get them to like each other or be enthusiastic when their teammates make plays in practice. It’s always been, ‘I don’t like you because you’ve got that St. Paul’s helmet on’ or ‘I don’t like you because you’ve got that Oak Park helmet on.’
“My job is taking a bunch of all stars and then trying to get them to like each other and become Team Manitoba.”
Don Burrell
“I think we’ve accomplished that, but we’ll wait and see. I believe they’ve become enthusiastic about playing together and representing Manitoba together.”
The tournament gets underway this morning at 11:00 a.m. with No. 4 seed Alberta facing Nova Scotia, the fifth-seed, at Investors Group Field. Manitoba Gold, featuring players primarily from Winnipeg and ranked sixth, will play its first game Saturday night at 5:00 p.m.
Manitoba Silver, which includes players primarily from Northwestern Ontario with a few from Winnipeg and ranked eighth, will line up against the top seed, Quebec, at 8:30 p.m.
For Burrell & Co., the process began back in February with 112 players. The roster was then sliced down to 60 for the Blue and Gold Game and is now down to 40 for the Canada Cup. The team features 12 players from St. Paul’s, 10 from Vincent Massey, and four each from Sturgeon Heights and Murdoch MacKay. Portage, Neelin, Kelvin, Kildonan East, Oak Park, Miles Macdonnell, Grant Park, Garden City and the Canada Prep Academy in Welland, Ontario (via Swan River) are also represented.
“It’s a pretty diverse team with players from all over Winnipeg and a kid, Chase Ellingson, who goes to Canada Prep but who comes in from Swan River for every practice,” said Burrell.
“It’s been tough. There’s a lot of talent in Winnipeg and in Manitoba and it was rough to cut some of those kids that you see all that potential in. It wasn’t an easy process to go through because these kids were putting their heart and soul into representing their province.”
The schedule leaves little room for error – and recovery – for all the teams in the Canada Cup. Manitoba Gold, for instance, opens Saturday, and is back on the field three days later in either a consolation side contest or the tournament semifinal. Three days after that are the medal and placement games.
Burrell likes his squad, and most eyes will be on four players: quarterback Andre Dueck (Vincent Massey), running back Kaeden Corrie (Sturgeon Heights), linebacker Brody Williams (St. Paul’s) and Ellingson, the cornerback from Swan River.
“I’m excited to see them play against someone else,” said Burrell. “We’ve been beating the crap out of each other since February. We had a chance to play against Thunder Bay and I heard one of our kids coming off the field say, ‘Man, finally we get to hit somebody else.’ That’s what they’re looking forward to because it’s hard when you’re trying to build a team with a bunch of kids that don’t know each other. You’re hitting each other and then you start disliking each other because they’re hitting you hard, and yet you’re trying to become a teammate.
“But I’m excited. I like what we’ve got.”
2016 Football Canada Cup Schedule
Saturday July 9, 2016 – Game Day 1 (Investors Group Field)
Game 1 – Alberta (4) vs. Nova Scotia (5) – 11:00 a.m.
Game 2 – Ontario (2) vs. New Brunswick (7) – 2:00 p.m.
Game 3 – Saskatchewan (3) vs. Manitoba (6) – 5:00 p.m.
Ceremonial Kickoff – 8:00-8:15 p.m.
Game 4 – Quebec (1) vs. NW Ontario (8) – 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday July 12, 2016 – Game Day 2 (East Side Stadium)
Game 5 – Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 3 – 10:00 a.m.
Game 6 – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 4 – 1:00 p.m.
Game 7 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4 – 4:00 p.m.
Game 8 – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 – 7:00 p.m.
Friday July 15, 2016 – Game Day 3 (Investors Group Field)
Game 9 – Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6 – 11:00 a.m. (7th and 8th consolation)
Game 10 – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 – 2:00 p.m. (5th and 6th consolation)
Game 11 – Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8 – 5:00 p.m. (Bronze Medal Game)
Game 12 – Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 – 8:00 p.m. (Gold Medal Game)
