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Whyte steps into Lions den |
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Written by TED CLARKE
Citizen staff
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Friday, 09 May 2008 |
This season is a dream come true for B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte -- and it hasn’t even begun.
Armed with a three-year CFL contract, the 22-year-old native of Surrey is about to begin drawing paycheques as a professional football player. Best of all, from Whyte’s perspective, he’ll be earning his money in his own backyard in the kicker-friendly confines of climate-controlled B.C. Place Stadium.
Whyte and his Lions teammates -- quarterback Gino Guidugli and linebacker Tyson Craiggs of Kamloops will gather this morning on the turf at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre to share their football knowledge with a crowd of kids at the Play With the Pros introductory skills camp.
It wasn’t that long ago Whyte was a football neophyte himself. Having grown up a soccer player in Surrey, he discovered football less than five years ago.
“I didn’t start playing football until 2003,” said Whyte. “I was a kicker in rugby and I started playing community football in Surrey.
“Now I get to kick in the Dome playing in the CFL for my hometown team -- what more could I ask for.”
One of Whyte’s minor football teammates is the son of Lions head coach Wally Buono, who was impressed with Whyte’s kicking ability and encouraged him to pursue junior football. He played three seasons with the South Surrey Big Kahuna Rams, and attended Santa Monica junior college for two years, where he got used to the pressure of kicking field goals in front of big crowds playing for the Corsairs in the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Whyte’s rapid progress is the product of hard work and great coaching all along. Curtis Head and Duncan O’Mahoney taught him as a junior and now he has former Montreal Alouette and Lions coach Don Sweet showing him how to launch booming punts as understudy to incumbent kicker Paul McCallum.
Whyte practiced with the Lions throughout the 2007 season and he’s now capable of 64-yard punts and is accurate on field goals most of the time from 50 yards out. He’ll attend the Lions’ rookie camp that starts May 28.
“You just have to go in and compete against yourself,” he said. “I just have to go out and kick the way I can and turn some heads. Paul is a 16-year CFL veteran and it will be tough to beat him out, he’s one of the best.”
Guidugli, a 25-year-old native of Fort Thomas, Ky., will also attend his first CFL camp.
“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to go to training camp and compete,” he said. “B.C. is where you want to play in the CFL. Wally does a great job with the players and all the veterans do their jobs. Plus it’s a great city to come to.”
Growing up 10 minutes out of Cincinnati, Guidugli was introduced to football at a young age, but sat on the bench his first year of minor football as a 10-year-old. That was his only season as a non-starter. From 2001-2004 he missed just one game playing for the University of Cincinnati Bearcats. During his NCAA career, he demolished all Bearcats career records for quarterbacks, school records that stood until last season, when his single-season touchdown pass record of 29 was broken. His long-bomb throws travel up to 70 yards.
“I always had a good arm and I was always a quarterback,” Guidugli said. “My dad was a defensive end and he was a boxer, so I didn’t get it from him. He was more into hurting quarterbacks.”
Guidugli was one of the final roster cuts for Cologne of NFL Europa last season, and was playing arena football for Green Bay of AFL2 when the Lions called, five games into the season, asking him to come to Vancouver as the third-string quarterback behind Buck Pierce and Jarious Jackson.
Coaches from the Prince George Minor Football Association and a group of high school players will help guide the kids through the skill stations. The free camp is open to players aged six to 12 and runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Guidugli was part of the Timbits kids camp in Surrey along with Whyte and loves sharing his experiences with kids. He works in the off-season as a substitute teacher in Kentucky.
“I’ll just go through a few fundamental things -- how to grip and hold the ball, footwork, how to throw, nothing too complicated,” he said. “I don’t know how often kids here get this kind of an opportunity.”
Whyte remembers his soccer experiences idolizing the guest coaches at skills camps in Vancouver.
“When you work with the pros, you always look up to them,” he said. “This camp will be a lot of fun.”
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Last Updated ( Friday, 09 May 2008 )
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