Casey Conlon

BEEFEATERS MOURN LOSS OF PLAYER/COACH

The London Beefeaters lost a long-time member of our football family with
the passing of former player and head coach Casey Conlon.
Casey came to the Beefs in 1978 after an outstanding high school career with the London Laurier Rams.  His playing career lasted until 1980 and in the following year he joined the Beefeater coaching staff, headed by his Laurier coach, Bob Gooder.  He remained an assistant coach for the next two years and then became Head Coach in 1985 when the Beefs returned to OFC action after a year's hiatus. The high point of Casey's coaching career came in 1988 when he led the team to the OFC championship game against the Burlington Jr. Tiger-Cats.  Although the team lost that game 25-3 Casey has the distinction of being one of only two Beefeater Head Coaches to take a team to the OFC championship, the other being Gord Grace, now Athletic Director at the University of Windsor. On Friday, August 22nd at 9:30 am a service will be held for Casey at the London Health Sciences Centre in London. 
The following site gives directions.
http://www.lhsc.on.ca/About_Us/LHSC/Maps_Directions/VH_Site_Map.pdf
Theservice is on the "D" wing, 3rd floor in the chapel.  Bonnie, Casey's
sister, would be glad to see friends attend.  The service is casual.

NOT THE HOPED FOR OPENING:
The Beefs went into Sunday's game against Burlington with high expectations.

There had been good numbers at practice, talented players among them and a seemingly good attitude during the training camp.  Unfortunately all of that optimism dissipated by the end of the first half of the game and the London squad dropped a disappointing 50-0 game to the Braves.

Burlington's first score came just 2:44 into the first quarter.  London was punting from their 47 yard line but the snap eluded the punter, Dumitru Ionita, and he was tackled on his own 15 yard line where Burlington took over.  Two plays later, Mike Durrant rumbled in from 4 yards out for the initial score.  London stopped Burlington on their next possession and on the ensuing punt, Ossa Zabien sprinted to the end zone, only to have the play nullified by offsetting penalties.

Early in the second quarter Burlington put together an eight play drive from their own 2 yard line to score their second touchdown.  Quarterback Mike Chase hit receiver Robin Mediros for a 50 yard gain during the drive and then capped it off with a 27 yard toss to Mediros for the major.  The convert hit the upright so the score remained 13-0 Braves.  The Beefs gave up a safety a little later in the quarter but from that point on until the very end of the half the teams battled in the mid part of the gridiron.

With no time on the clock the Beefs lined up for a field goal from the 42 yard line.  The kick was long enough but wide to the left.  It was picked up by Robin Mediros 12 yards deep in the end zone.  The speedster took off and 122 yards later the spirit of the Beefs was broken as Mediros established a new Burlington Brave record for the longest punt return in their history (missed field goals become punts for statistical purposes).  With the convert, the half time score was 22-0 but for all intents and purposes the game was out of reach for the Beefs.

Burlington added 14 points in the third quarter, one touchdown on a fake field goal.  Mediros passed 9 yards to Jared Manchulenko for that score. Later in the quarter Mediros hauled in a 58 yard pass for his second touchdown of the day.

In the fourth quarter Mediros struck again, this time on a short, 10 yard pass to make the score 43-0.  With less than 5 minutes remaining, and apparently afraid the Beefeaters would storm back with 6 touchdowns and a field goal in the remaining time, the Braves once again went to the fake field goal and Mediros tossed a 36 yard touchdown pass, again to Manchulenko.  That sealed the victory as far as the Braves were concerned so on the last play of the game they were able to take a knee and celebrate.

Fortunately the Beefs have a bye this week that, hopefully, will give them time to regroup and prepare for the unenviable task of facing the St. Leonard Cougars on August 23rd at TD Waterhouse Stadium.

Beefeater Registration Policy

The 2008 registration fee for the London Beefeaters is $250. Fees paid for the spring camp will be deducted from the season's registration fee.  The registration fee, plus a post-dated cheque or credit card impression for $500., is required before equipment will be given out. 
The equipment deposit will be returned with the return of all equipment at the end of the player's season.

The Beefeaters recognize that some potential players may not be able to pay the complete $250.  with one payment.  It is possible to set up a payment plan with the Team Treasurer.  Five post-dated cheques, made out for mutually agreed upon dates prior to the start of the main camp on July 21,will also be accepted.

This year the team is also announcing a REGISTRATION DISCOUNT PLAN.  The team executive run various fundraising events during the year and for aminimum of 4 hours of volunteer time a player donates at an event, the team will discount the registration fee by 10% to a maximum of $100. should the player participate in four events.  Details of events scheduled so far will be available at the Spring Camp.

Players can download the Canadian Junior Football League's registration form from the CJFL site at www.cjfl.ca and fill it in prior to camp (click on Registration on the CJFL home page). 

The Ontario Football Conference (OFC) teams use this form for registering players.  The documentation necessary for an acceptable completed registration is outlined on the form.

Spring Camp

Details are now finalized for this year's London Beefeater Spring Camp.  As usual the camp will be at John Paul II Catholic School at the corner of Highbury Ave. and Oxford St. from May 20-23. 

The camp will run from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. each evening.
The cost of the camp is $50.  This fee covers insurance and will be deducted from team registration fees should the player continue with the team in the regular season.

Head Coach Vince Zvonkin is excited to announce that UWO Head Coach GregMarshall will be conducting one of the evening sessions with emphasis on the offensive side of the ball. 

Also expected to be on hand will be CentralS.S. Head Coach John Vouvalidis, David Gibson, recent Beefeater alumnus Tim Thomson, plus Beefs coaches Greg Thurston, John Chehade, Jason Akindilore and Pat Queenan.

Interested players should contact us through Info@londonbeefeaters.org or
Vince Zvonkin at vzvonkin@rogers.com.