º«¹úÂãÎè trio to play pro football in France
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(LEFT TO RIGHT: CHARLES-ANTOINE SINOTTE, ANTHONY LUKCA, JONATHAN BOWER)
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MONTREAL - Three former team captains with the º«¹úÂãÎè Redmen have signed contracts to play semi-pro football in France.
Charles-Antoine Sinotte of Trois-Rivieres, Que.,
and Anthony Lukca of St. Laurent, Que., will play
for the Grenoble Centaures, while Jonathan Bower
of Calgary will suit up for the Aix-en-Provence Argonautes.
Both squads are among eight teams that compete in the Ligue Élite
de Football Américain, which is entering its 30th year of
operation, from mid-January to the end of June. Grenoble joins the
Argonautes in Division 1 after winning the Div. 2 championship last
year.
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º«¹úÂãÎè has had a long association with football in France, dating back to 1993 when the Redmen were invited overseas to play a game. Since then, a number of grads have gone on to play in France, including Matt Connell, Guillaume Roy, Matthieu Quiviger, Jonathan Csoman, Jean-Nicolas Lavoie, Luc Farly, Jerome Coulet,Alex Trepanier, Vincent Gagne and Scott Weldon.
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"Francois Chagnon (an assistant coach with the Redmen), played a major role in helping us get an opportunity to play France," said Lukca, a former all-star defensive back who coached the Redmen last year. "He has many contacts in Europe and runs a summer football camp in France."
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Sinotte, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver who earned all-conference honours three times and was a CIS all-Canadian in 2008, is expected to play at both quarterback and receiver, in addition to serving as the team's offensive coordinator. Over his five seasons, the 23-year-old physical education major racked up a CIS record 251 receptions for a school record 2,935 yards and 14 touchdowns in 39 career games. Prior to enrolling at º«¹úÂãÎè, Sinotte played at College Trois-Rivieres.
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Lukca will be playing on both sides of the ball, at running back and strong safety. He was an all-conference defensive with the Redmen, where he also served as the team's long-snapper. The 5-foot-10, 204-pound physical education major was credited with 209 total tackles, four knockdowns and seven interceptions in 35 career contests. Lukca, 24, played his high school ball at College Notre-Dame and was named captain of the team in 2002. He moved on to Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school in Wallingford, Conn., where he was again named captain of the varsity team.
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Bower, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound offensive lineman who played his first few years on the defensive line at º«¹úÂãÎè, is expected to play on both sides of the ball with the Argonautes. Bower, 23, who joined the Redmen out of Western Canada high school in 2006, graduated this semester with a civil engineering degree.
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
º«¹úÂãÎè
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
earl.zukerman [at] mcgill.ca