Receiver catches on with UW Warriors
Football was all about the foot when Justin Succar first stepped on a gridiron four years ago.
Now, it’s all about the feet.
A soccer player, Succar was only interested in becoming a kicker when he went out for football in his first year of high school at Notre Dame College School in Welland.
Hail Mary passes into the end zone? Slippery backs eluding tackle after tackle on highlightreel runs?
Hardly the stuff of a clutch field goal or a booming, momentum-deflating punt.
Those perceptions all changed for good after his first rep running out of the backfield with the ball tucked under his arm.
“I wanted to be a kicker, but that did it for me, I was hooked,” the 17-year-old son of Sam and Catherine Succar of Welland recalled with a chuckle.
Eventually, so was University of Waterloo. Impressed with the body of work Succar accumulated over four years of high school football with the Fighting Irish and two with the Niagara Spears during the summer months, the Warriors offered him a combination academic-athletic scholarship to line up at a slotback position.
Given Waterloo’s reputation as a centre of excellence for computer training, Succar, whose career goal is to eventually work in Silicon Valley, didn’t need to be asked twice to sign on the dotted line.
“Right from Grade 10, I knew I wanted to go to Waterloo for academics,” he said at a signing ceremony Wednesday at Notre Dame.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Succar, who will major in computer engineering and living on campus, isn’t worried that he will be too small to compete against defenders four to five years older and upwards of 50 pounds heavier.
“Speed, that’s how you do it,” Succar said. “That’s how you stay away from them.”
Succar knows two players currently on the Warriors roster who played with Succar on the Spears. He said their glowing praise of the program was also a big reason he wanted to head to Waterloo.
“They motivated me to come there, because of the experiences and stories they shared with me,” he said. “They just had nothing but positive stories.
“They made it seem like it would be something that I would really want to do.”
“It’s something more than just a classroom and university setting, it’s like you’re with a family and you’re like grinding ball but with brothers at the end, it’s not just a team.”
Darrell Adams, the university’s recruiting co-ordinator as well as the Warriors defensive co-ordinator, also isn’t concerned with Succar’s stature.
“He’s not going to line up on the line of scrimmage against guys who are that much bigger than him,” Adams said. “We’re going to put him into a position where he can make plays and be successful.
“We’re going to train him in the weight room, we’re not expecting him to come out and start right away.”
Waterloo came away from scouting Succar impressed with his speed and high football IQ.
“He’s got pure talent, he’s a good receiver, he’s fast, he’s versatile,” Adams said. “He’s a very smart player, and coaches speak very highly of him.”
Notre Dame assistant coach Chris Biggar said Succar has what it takes to play university football.
“Justin is a very hard worker, he’s always in the weight room, he always working on his game,” Biggar said. “I’m pretty confident that he can be successful at that level.”
The high school coach also doesn’t think Succar’s size will put him at a disadvantage.
“It’s a big field, and I think he does a good job of avoiding contact when he can and using his quickness to his advantage,” Biggar said. “He is very fast, he is one of the faster players in the league for sure.”
Succar mostly played running back on a Notre Dame team that upset the three-time defending champion A.N. Myer Marauders in the Niagara Bowl and advanced to provincials for the first time in five years, but he is adept at catching the ball, too.
“We threw to him at times this year, and he’s pretty explosive in the open field,” Biggar said. “That’s a position that could suit him at the next level.”