Baby-faced Carleton Ravens have a grizzled veteran of 22,
Third-year player Matt Lapointe knows he’ll be taking on a leadership role with the young Carleton Ravens
It seems only fitting that the best beard on the 2013 edition of the Carleton Ravens belongs to Matt Lapointe.
While still just 22 years of age, the St. Peter’s high school grad is both the oldest of the new Ravens and also the most experienced, with four seasons at Queen’s University, including two years on the active roster.
Lapointe is also the only Raven with a university degree, having transferred specifically to do his masters in international affairs in the classroom with a totally unofficial, non-credit minor in child psychology on the field.
The hulking 6- 4 , 300-pound offensive lineman, who chose Carleton over Ottawa U, is the only legitimate third-year player on a roster comprised 95 per cent of freshmen (the rest are second-year players), meaning every week the Ravens set foot on a field, it will be men versus boys. The Ravens will have an average age of 18.5 years.
“Both schools offered the program I wanted, but the fact Carleton was starting from scratch was exciting,” said Lapointe, before the Ravens took to the practice field Thursday for the first time since late October of 1998, when a 1-6 Ravens team prepared for what many felt would be the final game in Ravens football history after the school cancelled the program.
“I thought I could bring more to Carleton. I felt I could really do something here.
“I’ve never been part of a first-year startup program and if you look at pro expansion teams, you know it’s going to be difficult at times.
“But there’s some really good kids here. We were all recruited as winners and the key is to build a foundation as one.”
One is going to be a big number around Bronson Avenue this fall as the Ravens, week in and week out, will be searching for that elusive first win.
But on a sunny August day, Keith Harris Stadium never looked better, with its artificial turf and new grandstand and 82 hopefuls out on the field — 72 of whom will stick. This is merely a start. “I was here at the annual banquet and there’s something special here,” said Lapointe. “I sat with 10 alumni and just to hear the stories they had tells you so much about the history and the culture here.
“What we as players have to do is work to get it to where there’s something for the alumni to be proud of.”
The task of building from the ground up starts with head coach Steve Sumarah.
Mercifully, the Ravens drew a bye in Week 1 of the Ontario Conference schedule and will instead travel to Sherbrooke for an exhibition game Aug. 23.
The following week, the hitting will be for real on Labour Day Monday in London against the Western Mustangs.
But for now, they have two weeks to prepare for their debut.
“It’s the first time for a lot of these kids at a CIS camp,” said Sumarah, who has been on the job for 18 months since becoming the program’s first hire.
“I don’t want them coming out like gangbusters and after three days be all burned out.
“We can’t manage the expectations placed on us by others. But our approach is to take things play by play as a teaching experience, and our expectations are we want to get better with every play.
“We want to develop and grow. We want to keep the highs and the lows to a minimum. We want to see the future as much as the present.”