The Lancer Football team officially opened up their 2012 training camp on Monday morning with their first of two practices on the day at Alumni Field.

Players checked in for training camp Sunday and went through some initial team testing before hitting the field for practice Monday with the season opener just two weeks later. The Lancers had 107 players check in for testing Sunday. The club will practice twice Monday at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
 
“I can't wait,” said starting quarterback Austin Kennedy, who was an OUA all-star last season. “It's been too long. It feels like forever and everyone just can't wait to get out.”

The expectations are much higher for this year's Windsor squad.

Last year in his first season as Head Coach, Joe D'Amore guided the Lancers to their first playoff appearance in a half decade. The team won its first playoff game in eight years and fell just a touchdown short of reaching the Yates Cup.

“We talked about it as a coaching staff how important last year was to get (the program) turned around so that it warrants us to stay around,” D'Amore said.

The team finished 5-3 and D'Amore was named OUA coach of the year. That earned the former Lancer player a three-year contract, but he's not simply satisfied with a little job security.
“This year becomes even more important,” D'Amore said. “We can't take a step back.

“We had a great year, people are excited and the expectations are high and we don't want to go back and have people feel it was a fluke or luck.”

D'Amore, who took his club to Saskatchewan for an exhibition game last year, plans to follow the same blueprint this fall. This time, the team will head to the University of Montreal Friday.

“We're excited about it,” D'Amore said. “That exhibition (last year) gave us two things. It allowed us to correct mistakes going into our first game against Toronto where sometimes you spend a quarter doing that.

“As well, we want to play out of conference and a chance to play a top-notch team. We performed well and that built our confidence. Montreal is always a top five team in the country and a very athletic team. We want to see how we match up.”

Those that don't go to the exhibition will scrimmage a week from Sunday and D'Amore will cut down to 87 a week from Monday.

“One thing that has definitely grown with this team is confidence,” Kennedy said. “If you look at the history of this team, what's always happened is one or two successful years and then a slide.

“To cement ourselves as an elite program, we have to be consistent and the way to do that is win games and have another winning season. We've been working out this summer with goals in mind that we want to achieve."

Whether it's been getting together to lift weights or throw the ball around, team members have stayed close throughout the offseason.

“The quarterback throw-arounds on Mondays we've had 30 or 35 guys there,” D'Amore said. “They have worked so hard and they've given me full understanding that they know last year's over and they're moving forward and not living on 2011. They're ready.”

So is the coaching staff, which has done enough reviewing and is ready to get back in action.

“I'm tired of summer and paperwork,” D'Amore said. “We're ready to get this going."