Over the course of the last few years the Ottawa Invaders struggled organizationally yet have consistently put out a competitive product on the NFC field. In 2017 the club was formally taken over by Ottawa business owner Jeff Lapensee who infused significant resources to make sure Ottawa was well represented in the NFC.

This year Jeff is happy to announce the joining of forces with the Ottawa Sooners who will be contributing coaching, equipment, staffing and financial backing to take the Ottawa NFC club to a higher level organizationally. Jeff Lapensee reported that these contributions from the Ottawa Sooners is the first step towards formally merging the Invaders into the Ottawa Sooners family of football teams. At the NFC 2018 Fall Meeting there will be an application to the NFC for a change of ownership of the Ottawa NFC membership to the Ottawa Sooners.

Jeff Lapensee having played a crucial role in both ensuring Ottawa football players have a place to play NFC football will continue to operate the Ottawa Sooners NFC team administratively.

John Allarie, Owner of the Ottawa Sooners was happy to meet with the NFC Executive and introduce himself as well as ask questions about the NFC. John looks forward to adding to his football program which, with the addition of an NFC team, will provide football for players from Bantam age through to Senior NFC.

As part of this transition Jeff Lapensee and John Allarie gave notice to the NFC Executive that effective immediately the Ottawa Invaders have changed their team name to the Ottawa Sooners. As a result of the Sooners involvement there has been an increase in player excitement for the 2018 NFC season. We look forward to seeing the Sooners play this year.

The NFC in 2018, will be participating in a special pre-season event which will feature a pilot project game featuring NFC All Stars and Select players joining the host Steel City Patriots playing against the NCAA Division 3 Capital University Crusaders of Columbus Ohio.

The NCAA’s Ohio Athletic Conference 2018 rules have been changed to allow OAC teams to play an out of state spring football game every few years. Typically, teams have been traveling to Europe. The costs of taking an entire football team overseas has become very expensive leaving teams like the Crusaders looking for alternatives.

The NFC came to the rescue with thanks to its member club from Hamilton, the Steel City Patriots, offering to operate & host the event. The event is designed to provide an opportunity to NFC’s 2017 All Star players and other select NFC players from across the league to come together and showcase their skills in front of CIS, CFL and NCAA scouts and football fans.

The event promises to be a memorable experience for all participants including the NCAA Capital University Crusaders who will be getting a chance to play on the giant 65 yard wide Canadian football field. The game will feature mostly NCAA rules, including the fair catch. Other rules will be in place to minimize injuries to NFC players in pre-season, including no

blocks below the waist anywhere on the field.

This pilot project could lead to more OAC teams considering the NFC as viable less expensive out of conference game in the future, while still providing the competition experience they are looking for.

The game is slated to be played at Tim Horton’s field in Hamilton on May 5th with kickoff at 8 pm. Players from various NFC clubs have been inquiring about the prospects of playing looking to be part of this memorable event. Interested parties can contact SCP at 905 541-7177 or the NFC at 705 200-4856 for more information.