Gryphons' Lair Issue 55 – August 2021 What
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Gryphons’ Lair Issue 55 – August 2021 What Happened in July? Return of the Annual FOGF Golf Tournament The Friends of Gryphon Football hosted their annual FOGF Golf Tournament on Friday, July 23rd, a long-anticipated reunion following the cancellation of last year’s tournament due to Covid-19. Although restrictions called for reduced numbers, the day was incredible, providing perfectly sunny weather, and a great day of golf. A special thank you to everyone who participated in the tournament, we hoped you enjoyed your day as much as we did! A special congratulations goes out to Dudley Brown, Tom Newbigging, Chuck Sims and Pat Neild who were the winning foursome of the day, featured below (left to right). Lastly, thank you to our sponsors and all of those who donated to this tournament. Your support is so greatly appreciated. Argo’s Camp at Alumni Stadium We are so happy to have hosted the Toronto Argonauts this past month for their annual Training Camp. With strict Covid-19 measures in place, the Argo’s have been utilizing our locker room, meeting spaces and field for their camp. Argonaut’s employee, Alex Russell, credits the facility as being the “nicest USports locker room in Canada, with 110 lockers in total”. The Argos further credited our facilities as being “the jewel” of USports. To read more on the training camp and the Covid-19 protocols that have been put in place for a safe CFL return, please click here. Mini-Camp We are officially gearing up for the season! For the first time since the beginning of 2020, the boys were finally able to put their helmets on and hit the field in our team’s Mini-Camp. Lasting only a weekend, vets and rookies alike got to gear up and put into play their off-field training and plays. We are so excited to be back and ready for training camp to take place at the end of the summer. Celebration Gryphons at CFL Training Camps The CFL kicked off their training camps last month, which was an exciting time for many of our previous Gryphons. Congratulations and good luck to the Gryphons who are participating in their first-ever professional training camps. The following former Gryphons are taking part in CFL camps this summer: Coulter Woodmansey, Gabriel Ferraro, Andrew Pickett, Curtis Newton, Jacob Scarfone, AJ Allen, Ben Petrie, Dotun Aketepe, Kian Schaffer-Baker, Jaylan Guthrie, Jake Reinhart, Johnny Augustine, Eric Starczala and Royce Metchie. We know you will make us proud, boys! We can’t wait to see you take the field! Reinhart Preps for his Seventh Season with the Argos University of Guelph alumnus, Jake Reinhart, is gearing up for his seventh season with the Argos, a rarity in the CFL. The Argos are the only team that the Guelph native has played for in his CFL career. Reinhart faced a slight set-back in the last year, when he tore his calf in the 2019 season. To read more on Reinhart and his preparation towards his seventh season with the Argos, please click here. Schaffer-Baker Fights for Roughrider Spot Kian Schaffer-Baker is working for a tough Wide Receiver spot on the upcoming Roughrider’s roster. Kian graduated from the University of Guelph this past year and is currently taking part in Saskatchewan’s training camp where Receivers are a highly-competitive group. The linked article features Roughrider’s Receiver’s Coach, Travis Moore, crediting Kian as an athletic and talented individual for whom the “sky is the limit”. We wish you the best of luck during camp Kian and are rooting for you! To read more on the Saskatchewan Roughrider’s and their talented class of Receivers, including the success of Kian Schaffer-Baker, please click here. Featured Alumnus This month’s Featured Alumnus is John Rush. If you are unfamiliar, Rush played Linebacker for the Gryphons from 2011-2015 and had quite the impact on the success of the team. During his time at the University of Guelph, Rush was awarded with various achievements, including OUA Defensive Player of the Year, CIS Player of the Year, Male Athlete of the Year (2015) and was the Yates Cup M.V.P. Additionally, he was the Team Captain for the 2013 and 2015 seasons. Following graduation, Rush was signed to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a Free Agent, where he has been playing for the past five years, up until Covid. Originally a Niagara native, Rush recently moved permantly to Winnipeg last year. Rush graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Guelph, majoring in Marketing Management. Today, he works at Scotiabank as a Financial Consultant for Doctors. Reflecting on his time at UofG, Rush feels that practice is the part he misses the most. “Practice was always so much fun! You could go with your buddies, doing something that you love to do and you’re competing to get better every single day. It was so much fun to do that! There’s nothing really like that in the real world. At times, it was definitely challenging but overall that is what I miss the most. That, and hanging around the locker room afterwards”. For Rush, the highlight of his time at the University of Guelph was a no-brainer: “Winning the Yates”. After going 7-1 and falling short for the four years prior, finally making it to the Yates Cup was an accomplishment like no other. He mentioned that finally being able to win it in his final year at Guelph with his friends, teammates, and Coach Lang was a pretty special moment. To John, the moments with the guys were additional stand-out moments for his time with the team. “It never felt like work and you never wanted to leave. It was just so much fun and that’s something that you don’t always get in the real world”. We asked John if he would provide any advice to his past-self and current Gryphons. To this, he laughed and responded that he would simply tell himself to do more. “School. Football. Community. You think you’re working hard but you could always work harder. I learned this when I got to the pros and saw guys who were on a whole other level”. We wish John all the best with his current career and hope to see him back soon at Alumni Stadium. Featured FOFG Member Our Featured FOGF Member for the month is Nathan Body! Body graduated from the University of the Guelph in 1997 and played Quarterback for the Gryphons. During his time with the Gryphons, Body helped the team win the 1996 Yates and is now a part of the 1990’s Team of the Decade. Body studied Finance and Economics at the University of Guelph and began working for a telecommunications company in 1999. This experience led him to begin a mobile phone venture that he continued for the next five years. In 2006, Nathan began a power sports business, expanding to two stores over the past 15 years. The stores are currently located in both Oakville and Barrie and he sells ATVs, Snowmobiles, Indian motorcycles, etc. Body currently lives in Barrie where he owns some acreage and is able to enjoy power sports right in his own backyard. Reflecting on his time with the Gryphons, the Yates Cup victory is the main memory that stands out for Nathan. Additionally, he mentions that the Guelph Gryphons were ranked #1 in the country in 1997 (following the Yates), where they went 6-0, only to lose the remainder of the games. “Oddly enough, I enjoyed that year just as much as the year of the Yates”. Body decided to become an FOGF member after a close friend, Randy Dimitroff told him about the amazing opportunity for Alumni to give back to the program and stay involved. He decided that he wanted to participate and reciprocate all that the program gave to him. Additionally, Body has two daughters and has provided a scholarship award at the University of Guelph for female athletes. Congratulations on all of your success, Nathan, and for giving back to the Gryphon Football Program! Thank you for being this month’s Featured FOGF Member. Featured Player This month’s Featured Player is 5’10, 185lb Running Back from Brampton, Ontario, Juwan Jeffrey. Juwan is currently entering his fourth year at the University of Guelph, in the Criminal Justice and Public Policy program. Juwan has been keeping busy throughout this past pandemic year. “I was used to having a schedule and always having to be somewhere. Now, I’m stuck at home and have way more time on my hands, I didn’t even know what to do with myself. I saw this as an opportunity to take more time for ourselves and get better, make my body better and prepare for the season. I knew the season was gonna come back at some point, so I really wanted to take advantage of this time”. He is currently balancing two jobs, working both at the grocery story as a Cashier and Customer Service, along with TD Bank as a Teller. When speaking about staying in shape throughout Covid, Jeffrey mentioned that it has been challenging as gyms have been closed, but that some of the guys have gotten creative, utilizing public parks and their garages to get their workouts in. “It really hasn’t been too bad for me personally. I have been able to really apply myself during this time off”. We asked Juwan what he misses most about the pre-pandemic world.