1975 EOL Banquet

First Club practice held 47 years ago today

by linkinbioLocal

Like many of you, I have spent a fair amount of time cooped up in the house since the pandemic began. I’ve spent some of my time revamping sections of the website, making some big updates to Club stats (more on that to come in the next few weeks), and even complied a few top ten lists. While compiling the lists I began to research a fair bit about the Club’s history and one day, last fall, came across a pair of articles describing the first days of the East Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club, as the Club was known as for the first 15 plus years of its existence.

On April 25, 1974 the East Ottawa Lions held their first practice at the old Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe track. Scheduled for 6:15pm that Thursday night, under the leadership of head coach Bob Staveley, practice began for “boys  age 12 and up and girls 11 years of age or over” according to an article in The Ottawa Journal. Given the Club’s original sponsorship by the East Ottawa Lions Club, original membership in the Club was restricted to “athletes living within the boundaries north of the Queensway and east of the Rideau River.”

Staveley, who had long believed there had been a need for a second track and field club in the city, established the Lions after having served as the Head Coach of the Ottawa Kinsmen Harriers Track and Field Club for five years. According to The Journal, the original coaches included Owen Froggett, who would help Staveley oversee the field events. Ken Parker, who later founded the Ottawa Athletic Club Racing Team, was the Club’s original distance coach. He was assisted by Rae Ellen Desloges. The sprinters were coached by Dick Cardill, previously of the the Harriers, and his assistant – Greg Moses of Almonte.

The original Board of Directors was led by president Major Angus Read, with Staveley serving as vice-president. Yvon Lanctin was the original treasuer and Froggett the secretary with Paul Moxon sitting as a member at large.

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Back on track – Lions athletes return to formal practices

by COVIDHigh SchoollinkinbioLocal

Incredible. It was all the words Foundation and Aspire program director Zach Quevillon needed to express his feelings about being back at practice.

After two months of lockdown, where treadmills, Zoom workouts, and other at home training became the norm, the Lions returned to practice Saturday morning at the spacious Sooner Megadome located at École secondaire catholique Paul-Desmarais in Stittsville. Saturday’s practice, a soft opening to March’s full return to programming at three separate locations across the city, included approximately 35 athletes who ran, hurdled, and bounded across the spacious turf field.

With nearly all members of the Aspire Program back training Saturday morning, coaches Quevillon and Connor Dobson led the high school students through their paces as they prepare for a competitive season that will be void of an OFSAA Championship for the second straight season. Quevillon plans to ease the athletes back into the swing of things over the next four months as the athletes prepare to head back outdoors in April. “It was evident that everybody’s been working really hard on their time away,” said the fifth year coach. “Virtual workouts were a success and we are at a starting point that is a lot further down the road than I was expecting having not seen [the athletes] in two plus months.”

Hurdler Luca Nicoletti said he found at home training to be more static and was happy to be back at practice with the whole team. After two months of treadmill running and drills at home, “it felt great to get back to running at a high speed,” said the 2019 Legion National silver medalist. Nicoletti says his focus this summer is returning to Legion Nationals, if the event does take place.

While the treadmill was go to for a number of athletes during lockdown, coach Normand Seguin notes the transfer of mechanics from the treadmill to the track takes some time. “Surprisingly [the athletes] found they are weak in the quads. When they pushed they realized they have to push, so they were slower,” said Seguin of the re-adjustment to running on a stationary surface. Nonetheless, the long time coach was pleased with where the athletes were, “I can tell they are very fit, they just need a little bit more exposure.”

Lions athletes will continue to get the necessary training exposure throughout March with sessions taking place at the Sooner Megadome, Aberdeen Pavilion, and Carp’s Oz Dome. For more information about our programs, please consult our website.

 

(Ottawa, Canada---20 April 2019) Chaos during the start of the 1200m at the Ottawa Lions' 2019 Easter Bunny Chase development meet in the Dome at Louis Riel High School. Photograph Copyright 2019 Sean W Burges / mundosportimages.com.

Registration open for summer camps

by linkinbioLocal

The Ottawa Lions are pleased to announce registration is now open for our 2021 Youth Summer Camps. Offering half day programs designed for athletes aged 7-11 and 12-14 years old, the program targets the physical “hurdles” our youth may approach by applying progressive motor skill development, physical strength training, and cardiovascular conditioning.

Building on the success of the 2020 Summer Camps, which saw record attendance under COVID-19 protocols, our camps will again return with the same half day format while adhering to both Ottawa Public Health and Government of Ontario guidelines.

Campers will receive a second to none introduction to the sport of track and field. Children will come away from our program with a higher level of self-confidence, increased knowledge of the sport, and a skill set that will not only support them in the events of track and field but provide solid fundamentals for all other sports.

Camps are scheduled to begin July 5th and will run through the final week of August. For more information on the camps, and the rest of our youth program, please visit https://ottawalions.com/programs/youth-program/

If you wish to register your child for one of our camps, please visit http://www.trackiereg.com/2021-ottlsummercamp

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Lions working hard to find winter home

by COVIDlinkinbioLocal

By Martin Cleary

HIGH ACHIEVERS: Stay-Safe Edition

As summer rolled into fall and winter appeared on the horizon, elite shot putter and 2021 Olympic hopeful Tim Nedow started to get concerned about where he would train indoors. Louis Riel Dome, the indoor training base for the Ottawa Lions for six months of the year, has been closed for several months to external users because of restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s uncertain when it will reopen.

For the second time in nine months, COVID-19 has messed up training schedules for the largest athletics club in Canada. The pandemic shut Louis Riel in March and the outdoor Terry Fox Athletic Facility only opened June 18. In the past few months, Richard Johnston, the club’s new head coach/director, has been working feverishly to find indoor training venues, after a five-month, restricted-capacity outdoor season with five Twilight meets.

“I was getting a little worried,” said Nedow, who is 20 centimetres shy of the automatic Olympic qualifying standard of 21.10m. “I could have gone to Brockville (hometown), but I wasn’t sure they would allow me in. “I saw there were other athletes with similar problems and they got it straightened out. I had a feeling all would work out.” Nedow’s gut instinct was good as Johnston is slowly starting to secure training spots.

Nedow, who is ranked 12th in the world, has been able to train at the OZ Dome, an indoor soccer venue in Kanata. Johnston has secured three, two-hour, weekday sessions plus Saturdays for the club’s throwing athletes. “It has been great. They have been so great to me,” Nedow said about the OZ Dome staff. “They’re very friendly and super accommodating.” After his 90-minute practice 3x a week, he stores his throwing circle at the Dome.

Johnston has tried a variety of approaches to return to renting the Louis Riel Dome, but the Conseil des ecoles publiques de l’Est de L’Ontario, the owner and operator, has kept the doors closed to the public. The City of Ottawa normally closes the Terry Fox Athletic Facility at the end of October, but the Lions got a break as the training venue remained open through November because of good weather. There are nearby training facilities – uOttawa Dome, Royal Military College in Kingston, Abilities Centre in Whitby, Variety Village in Oshawa, McGill University – but they may closed or not taking outside groups.

“I’m not saying I’m giving up hope,” Johnston said in an interview. “I’ve sent a long email to the Dome and school board with letters from Olympians. We’re trying every angle and pulling on the heart strings. There are hundreds of hockey rinks out there, but only one track and field facility designed for our athletes.”

The Louis Riel Dome is home to the only indoor 400-metre track in Canada and one of two in North America. Johnson has been able to rent the Carleton University Fieldhouse for a 4-hour time block on Saturday mornings from the end of November until Dec. 19, but the club will lose that spot when the university resumes in January.

“We’re chasing as many non-traditional venues as possible,” added Johnston, who is in negotiations with the City of Ottawa to rent the Aberdeen Pavilion to give the speed athletes a temporary home. The club would put down three strips of Mondo artificial surface under the pavilion’s heat lamps for the sprinters. “It’s not insulated and not in prime condition, but we hope to use it three days a week,” he said.

“The Aberdeen Pavilion could be the home base for the distance runners. They could use the canal paths as they are salted and cleared,” added Johnston, who is short one venue for the jumpers. “I’ve even tried industrial warehouses. The University of Windsor renovated its indoor track two years ago and moved into a long industrial warehouse. They got through the season,” Johnston said.

“Everyone is waiting for good news. Obviously, everyone is a little frustrated. We want to provide athletes with something. But we’re not in a situation where we were in March with nothing.”