The Cornwall Wildcats are coming off an extremely successful 2021 fall season in NCAFA at every age level. Their Tyke, Mosquito, Peewee, and Bantam teams all finished their NCAFA seasons with winning records and both their Tyke and Mosquito squads both represented NCAFA at the 2021 Ontario Fall Cup in November at Esthner Shiner Stadium in Toronto.
Both squads were able to get wins on the day with their Mosquito squad taking down the Scarborough Thunder 42-18 behind star running back Connor Hamelin’s multiple touchdowns to receive the title of best Mosquito team in the province. The Wildcats will now direct their focus to the newly formed OSFL (Ontario Summer Football League) along with some familiar NCAFA rivals, they will be looking to be competitive in the first year of the OSFL as the smallest community playing in the new league. President of the Cornwall Wildcats Kirby Camplin says
He went on to explain...
“There are definite advantages to being in a small community. Our athletes have a tremendous sense of pride belonging to the local football club.”
There’s a lot to be said about the athletes and coaches having pride in smaller organizations and regions, the Wildcats are based in Cornwall which is a city of around 50,000 people. They rely on development, elite recruiting, and building a culture that the players want to play in to be successful and competitive against much larger organizations and regions. Building on their successful NCAFA season at all levels, The team will be coached by Alex Labonte, a former Ottawa Gee Gee standout, who’s been a longtime Wildcats assistant and coordinator, and the aforementioned longtime president of the Cornwall Wildcats Kirby Camplin on their staff as the offensive coordinator.
”We are excited to see summer football in Ontario finally be under one banner. The creation of the Ontario Summer Football League (OSFL) joins a once fractured football landscape.”
The Wildcats have had success in previous variations of large scale football leagues in Ontario like the OVFL & OFC, but will look to take their previous success to the next level in the new 39 team summer football league. They will be looking to bring some of their talent over from their previous NCAFA teams, local high school teams, and their pipeline recruiting areas to build a skilled varsity team that's ready to contend for an OSFL championship in year one.