Urciuoli attending Bombers camp

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This article was published 23/05/2019 (2314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Transcona kid is getting a chance to hit the field with the hometown Blue Bombers.

Brandon Urciuoli, a 19-year-old who graduated from Murdoch MacKay Collegiate in 2017, is currently one of three Winnipeg Rifles attending training camp with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

“It’s going great,” Urciuoli, a 5-foot-11, 210 pound running back, told The Herald midway through the second week of camp. “The stuff I’m learning, the stuff we’re running through, the whole process, it’s a great eye opener.”

Urciuoli said he hopes to use the experience at Bombers camp to help his team win the Canadian Junior Football League championship this season.

“That’s the whole goal, to win,” said Urciuoli, who is joined at Bombers camp by fellow Rifles Troy Wilson and Cole Sneesby, both from Charleswood. “There will be a lot I can bring back to the Rifles from camp. It will definitely help with how I process things and how I view the game.”

As he heads into his third year with the Rifles, Urciuoli said he is prepared to step into a leadership role on the team.

“I want to do whatever I can,” he said. “I hope to be that leader, to be a mentor, to be a coach’s dream.”

Geordie Wilson, coach of the Rifles, confirmed he will be looking to Urciuoli as a leader when the Rifles kick off their season Aug. 18 at home against the defending champion Saskatoon Hilltops.

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“He will be a captain on our team this year, he is a leader on the field and in the weight room,” Wilson said. “Brandon trains extremely hard and is always trying to perfect his craft.  We expect him to be one the top backs in our conference this year. He is a one-cut, downhill, physically punishing runner. He has good vision and can really punish defenders.”

Wilson added that Urciuoli, who won the team’s President’s Trophy last season for his community service, is not only a leader on the fiel, but off the field as well.

“He is also one of the first people to volunteer for a number of activities we are involved in,” Wilson said. “Lighthouse Mission, Sam’s Christmas, Pride, coaching Crunchers, etc.”

Urciuoli said he expects to remain at Bombers camp through the end of May. Beyond that, he wasn’t sure. In the meantime, he’s making the most of the opportunity.

“The players, coaches, they’re a great group of guys. They have a great atmosphere here in the room. There are some really good backs here who know their stuff,” Urciuoli said. “I’m just trying to be a sponge, to take in whatever I can.”

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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