{"id":16711,"date":"2017-03-09T15:17:32","date_gmt":"2017-03-09T20:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=16711"},"modified":"2017-03-09T15:17:32","modified_gmt":"2017-03-09T20:17:32","slug":"toronto-varsity-blues-sign-smk-football-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/toronto-varsity-blues-sign-smk-football-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Varsity Blues sign SMK football stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jake Courtepatte<\/strong><\/p>\n

The University of Toronto just bolstered their football roster with a trio of Aurora talents.
\nCameron End, Nolan Lovegrove, and Matthew Vassos, who all helped the St. Max Kolbe Mustangs to the YRAA championship game last season, signed their commitments Monday to play football for the Varsity Blues program next season.
\n\u201cJust having a group of athletes like these three coming into the program is going to mean a lot in changing the direction of our football team,\u201d said Blues coach Joe Cappiello. \u201cI saw a couple of their games live last season, seeing them in action and talking to (Mustangs head coach) Joe Gaudio, they\u2019re the type of guys we want to change the culture of our team.\u201d
\nEnd, a linebacker, won defensive MVP for the Mustangs in only his sophomore year. He has since become a staple on the Mustangs\u2019 line, leading the St. Max defense to allowing just over three points per game in the last YRAA season.
\n\u201cU of T showed a lot of interest, and that\u2019s what I was looking for,\u201d said End. \u201cIt\u2019s the best opportunity for me to continue my career academically and, football-wise, to do the best of both worlds.\u201d
\nVassos, a defensive back for both the Mustangs, peaked the interest of a number of OUA programs, and found U of T to be the right fit.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re program just fits me,\u201d said Vassos. \u201cI love their coaching, I love the facilities, and they showed the most interest in me, which played a big role in choosing the school I go to.\u201d
\nOn the receiving end of many catches from QB Ben Langlois last season, Lovegrove, who primarily took the field as a wide receiver, appreciated the interest the Blues program saw in his work.
\n\u201cOf the schools that were looking at me, they showed me that I was going to be able to reach my full potential there, which means a lot. It\u2019s just a great opportunity right at my doorstep, and I had to take it.\u201d
\nThe rarity of three athletes from one high school signing at a single university in the same year does not go unheralded. All three signees recognize and appreciate the opportunity to continue working with the same boys they have grown up beside on the gridiron.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve all been together for most of our lives,\u201d said Vassos. \u201cBasically we\u2019re just continuing the legacy we started off with.\u201d
\nEnd called what they shared \u201ca brotherhood.\u201d
\n\u201cWe\u2019re all trying to improve ourselves individually, but it really helps when we\u2019re working at it together. We want to be the best and compete against the best, and being able to stay together really gives us the best opportunity.\u201d
\nThe Blues, who have not won an Ontario Yates Cup championship since 1993, have revamped their program this season with a new staff and a new outlook.
\n\u201cWe got new coordinators, new facilities,\u201d said Cappiello. \u201cWe\u2019re bringing in the guys that are going to utilize that to its full potential. These are the guys that are going to rebuild the program for the next five years.\u201d
\nEnd said he appreciates the commitment to change he sees from the Blues program.
\n\u201cI really like who they brought in. I know the coaches pretty well, I\u2019ve had one of them at camp before, I think they\u2019re the right guys to do the job, they\u2019re heading in the right path.\u201d<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Toronto just bolstered their football roster with a trio of Aurora talents.
\nCameron End, Nolan Lovegrove, and Matthew Vassos, who…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/2017-03-09-12.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4lx","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-24 14:20:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}