By:  Aliocha Perriard-Abdoh

With the three-week long training camp coming to a close for the Simon Fraser University football team, we catch up with a couple of players from the Clan to see what they have to say about the upcoming season.

There is a lot to be excited about as the Clan begins the season by traveling to Arizona Christian for their first game, competing in a non-conference contest at 7 p.m. The Clan will then have its home opener on September 9 with kickoff at 1:00 p.m.

This will be a great chance to watch what the young Clan players have to offer, as well as an opportunity for SFU to showcase the talent they have in front of a home crowd. This season the team has one of the youngest teams in recent Clan history, with 53 out of 71 athletes in only their first or second year.

Senior player and Coquitlam native Justin Buren commented on the Clan’s strengths, as well as the pros and cons to the majority of the players being so young, and how that might affect the team.  

“One of our biggest strengths would be optimism: we have a really good mindset this year. I feel like everyone’s kind of on the same page and training’s tailored to our specific needs for the season,” he said.

With the majority of players being first year and second year student-athletes, it makes sense that optimism would be one of the biggest strengths for the football team. There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain for the season as Simon Fraser did not win a single game last year. It makes sense that they can only do better this year. In senior wide receiver Justin Buren’s opinion, the youth of the Clan might be a very positive asset for the team.

“Inexperience and youth are one of our negatives and positives I would say. But I wouldn’t say that it’s necessarily a bad thing because it brings a lot of energy to practice, a lot of good mindsets and yeah, it’s the first time I’ve ever experienced such a young team and I look forward to dealing with it.”

Buren’s own personal goals for the season are to make all-American. “It’s been one of my goals since, like, day one, so that would be awesome. One of my other goals is to break 1000 yards receiving.”

The receiving corps is led by Buren. Last year he caught 47 passes as well as a touchdown for the Clan. Depending on how Buren recovers from the strained hamstring he got during the three-week training camp, he should be able to achieve his goal. Last year Buren averaged at 13.4 yards per catch.

Defensive lineman Rey Arcega also had a lot to add, as he returns to the Clan’s starting lineup. Arcega was away last season on a medical redshirt year due to a torn achilles injury. This year is Arcega’s first year as a senior and he will be one of the key defensive players as Simon Fraser battles it out against the other teams in the conference.

“We’ve been grinding it out very hard all camp long,” Arcega noted. “Our defense is pretty good, but I would say our offense [which Buren is a part of] has a lot more to showcase. A lot of them are fairly new to the team, and we’re definitely very excited to see how we’re going to perform.”

It certainly seems like many of the players can use this opportunity to make a name for themselves and become part of a bigger, and better generation in Clan football history.