Joey Payeur
Mike Cuzzolino strong-armed his way through the next phase of the ongoing rebuilding process of the Muskie football program.
The head coach of the black-and-gold, with an eye on the season to come, for the first time instituted an off-season strength and conditioning training program geared to prospective players for this year’s team to put themselves in the best shape possible moving forward.
“The off-season workouts weren’t well attended but we expected low numbers because this is the first time we really attempted to do this,” noted Cuzzolino, who begins the annual Muskie spring camp this Monday running from 6-8 p.m. each weekday until June 9.
“It will grow as we continue to emphasize fitness in order to prevent injuries and put us in the best position to be successful,” he added.
“Also, there are so many kids playing other sports and doing many other activities that sometimes there just isn’t time to commit.
“It won’t correlate to the numbers [that show up at spring camp],” Cuzzolino insisted.
“We will get more than the kids that showed up to train.”
The Muskies were the definition of a barebones operation last season–struggling to get much more than 20 players out for games in what was an 0-7 season in the Currie Division (‘A’) of the WHSFL.
That would seem to make a sizable showing in terms of number of bodies at spring camp a must for the team to turn things around.
“It’s hard to estimate numbers but we’re hoping for a decent turnout,” Cuzzolino said.
“It’s hard not having a youth program to draw from, and we’re feeling the effects of that [Fort Frances Junior Wolverines] program not running the last couple of years,” he admitted.
“I’d say 24-30 are the numbers were hoping for minimally to make the camp a success,” he added.
“We really would like to be able to scrimmage.”
The first regular-season game for the Muskies isn’t until September, but Cuzzolino wasn’t pulling any punches that the future is now.
“Spring camp is extremely important to those interested in playing Muskie football,” he stressed.
“This camp is basically the opening of the 2017 season.
“This is where we tackle fundamentals, try and find out what positions we have, what positions we need, and try to develop some kind of identity both offensively and defensively,” he explained.
Cuzzolino said the focus of the camp is to develop and practice fundamentals, as well as get the team’s base offensive and defensive packages installed.
“We want to give players an idea of what to expect, as well as test their fitness levels and benchmark where they are, and help get them to where we need them to be,” he remarked.
In recent years, good spring camp numbers have not necessarily translated into getting a same-sized turnout at the main camp in the fall.
But Cuzzolino is keeping the faith.
“The whole thing about getting guys to play is to keep growing the sport of football in this community,” he noted.
“The football team is the oldest running sports team in town and we have seen how this town has supported sports team, especially hockey–look at OFSAA.
“We’re asking for some community support, whether it be volunteers, sponsors, players,” Cuzzolino said.
“We really want to make Fort football awesome again and give our kids something to be proud of.
“There are many gifted athletes in this community,” he added.
“If we all banded together, we could make Fort football a powerhouse.”
