Top 5 things to look forward to in the new year in McMaster Athletics
1. Nordic Skiing
Possibly one of the more interesting stories of the year is the addition of the Nordic Skiing Program to McMaster Athletics’ arsenal of contenders for the Ontario University Athletics championship. This will be the 37th program brought to competition by McMaster and nordic skiing will have a new provincial championship introduced in February 2020. With the introduction of this program, McMaster Athletics is looking to the future and the expansion of its trophy case. It was a bold move to introduce a new sport while the David Braley Athletic centre is undergoing expansion, but McMaster Athletics has shown that they are not letting any physical barriers in facilities, or lack of snow this year, to stop them from progressing.
The Men’s Volleyball team is coming off a busy winter break. They faced top-notch competition from several teams in the United States including Ohio State University, Long Beach State University and Lewis State University. Even though they lost to their American competitors, squaring off against fierce competition will help them improve their game as they enter 2020. On the Northern side of things, McMaster took down National Championship contender Trinity Western University two days in a row. These two wins against a Canadian powerhouse is great news for the Marauders and casts the rest of the season in a bright light.
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The Women’s volleyball squad is looking for another shot at a playoffs run. After falling short in the 2018-2019 season and missing the playoffs, the Marauders are looking for redemption. Currently ranked fourth in the Western division of the OUA, the race to make playoffs will come down to the wire as three teams have already clinched their berths, leaving only one spot available. On a positive note to start the second half of the season was the two blow out wins the Marauders pulled off against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves. This is a great start to January as the Women’s team gears up to play the Ryerson University Rams, who are ranked first in the OUA east, and the Brock University Badgers, ranked third in the OUA west, later this month.
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The Women’s team is looking to defend their National Championship as they gear up for a tough second half of the season. They just lost to the fifth overall team in the nation according to U sports, in the Ryerson University Rams, the Marauders look to take down other strong contender in the Western University Mustangs and Windsor University Lancers. These games will test the Marauders during this cold January streak.
The Rams have a sharpshooting starting lineup, and they averaged 46.5 per cent from the field in the matchup against the Marauders. The Rams’ recruiting program has led to a decade of success, where exceptional shooting has consistently remained one of the team’s strengths. That being said, the main issues for McMaster was that they were outrebounded 51 to 30 and had five more turnovers than the Rams. Cleaning up these two areas could lead to far fewer issues in the future.
U Sports ranks the McMaster Men’s Basketball team eighth overall in the country. Currently sitting in playoff contention with a record of nine wins and three losses, they look to stay strong and head to the playoffs again this year. That being said, they have a hard January in front of them, where they will be playing many top schools including the Windsor University Lancers, Western University Mustangs, Queens University Gaels and the Ryerson University Rams, with one easier matchup against Ontario Tech. Queens, Windsor, Western and Ryerson are top teams in the OUA who are looking for something to prove. In order to get by these opponents, the Marauders will have to stay consistent throughout every quarter, something they were not able to do in the last matchup against Ryerson. While the Marauders are staying strong with low turnover rates combined with a high number of takeaways, they need to clean up shot selection to make sure they stay on the high scoring streaks they are known for.
In case you haven’t noticed, David Braley Athletic Centre is under expansion! The renovations mark just one of many additions to accommodate for the ever-growing student body of McMaster. DBAC’s expansion is set to create more exercise space and athletic opportunities in order to allow a greater number of students to use the facilities. If you have travelled into the depths of DBAC and the Ivor Wynne Center, then you are familiar with the out-of-date, overrun and sometimes run-down squash, basketball and Pop-up Pulse. The construction, which started this year, meant to create a happier, healthier and more active campus.
The athletic year is only halfway through, and surely you remember the Yates Cup stunner, but there are so many tournaments left in the year for you to enjoy! The OUA is a vast and expansive association covering more sports than you can probably name, which means there is no shortage of exciting championships to come in 2020. Some of my favourites that you should keep an eye out for include the Critelli and Wilson Cup, both taking place on Feb. 29. The Critelli Cup, the women’s basketball championship, is looking like it will be another exciting year with many top programs performing at a high level. The path to the Wilson Cup, which is awarded to the OUA men’s basketball championship winner, is looking like it could be exciting. With several underdog contenders putting up a fight in the regular season, the cup is up for grabs to whoever wants it most. Get ready for the madness of Cup season — who knows who will be the Cinderella story this year.
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When Coach Ptaszek was presented with the offer to be the head coach at a program he had called home for over 10 years, there was no way he could refuse.
“It wasn't just a job for 10 years, it was more than that,” said Ptaszek. “A lot has changed over the last two and a half years, but there's still a lot of the great people around the campus and football program which made it a very, very exciting offer, and something that I was extremely interested in.”
Ptaszek’s name speaks volumes when it comes to Marauder football. So though many players and supporters were not too happy about the letting go of previous head coach Greg Knox, the arrival of Ptaszek quickly changed that.
Being the only coach to lead the Marauders to a Vanier Cup championship in 2011, his reputation certainly precedes itself. Ptaszek also held the record for longest winning streak in U Sports (formerly known as Canadian Interuniversity Sport) history, 21 games, brought home three Yates Cups and was named the CIS Coach of the Year in 2012.
Football -- Stefan Ptaszek returns to @mcmasteru as @Marauderftbl head coach. #GoMacGohttps://t.co/LaotrQMLPq
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) November 28, 2018
For Ptaszek, his success can be linked back to his philosophy for leading a team: ‘Football Family’. Using his own experience as a university student-athlete as the blueprint, Ptaszek’s goal to ensure that those in the program see one another as a family is a part of what makes those under him do so well as a unit.
“It's not just 80 guys that get together to play games eight times a year, they have to learn to believe and trust each other,” said Ptaszek. “All of that, under the umbrella of a world-class education, helps them to hopefully leave this place with the tools to be successful forever. That’s the big picture here; winning football games is just a by-product of doing all these other things”
Ensuring that a team has a family bond after such a controversial firing is a difficult task, but for Ptaszek, he finds that the incident has made the team more tight-knit than before.
“When [the players] were not having much guidance in terms of who their next coach was going to be, I think it caused them to have to build a tighter relationship. But they're stronger now, and capable of great things,” said Ptaszek. “Coaches like Scott Brady and John Parkes have been instrumental at keeping this locker room focused, so moving forward I think I inherited a really great situation. I'm going to be smart enough to build upon the great things that are in place here.”
For Ptaszek, building on things that are in place means listening to the needs of the team first, by getting to know his new student-athletes.
“I've had at least one sit down with each player and we're planning another one,” said Ptaszek. “I'm also getting to know the quarterbacks better because quarterback play is a huge thing we have to focus on in the off-season.”
Working hard in the weight room and getting stronger in the winter, the Marauders who are one of few teams lucky enough to most likely be keeping a majority of their starters for the 2019 season, will not have to do a lot of rebuilding. With a small graduating senior class, the team is young with a bright future ahead.
“We have two seniors, Eric Blake and Jordan Lyons, that we may potentially lose to the CFL, but if we're lucky, they’ll be back for their fifth year,” said Ptaszek. “We're going to be a year older, smarter, bigger, faster, stronger and in a great position. McMaster wasn't broken when I took this job, so I'm excited to see where they go.”
Though they have very few players leaving, this has not stopped Ptaszek from adding to the recruiting that was done before he arrived.
“I’m trying to compliment Brady and Parkes to have a great recruiting class,” explained Ptaszek. “It's still early in the process, but we’re really excited about our recruiting class.”
With 23 commits so far, the 2019 recruiting class is shaping up to be a good one.
As for goals for the 2019 season, reaching their full potential is all Ptaszek wants out of the Marauders. With the standard of excellence in Ontario set by the Western University Mustangs, he aims to close that gap.
“This year we’re a bit better at every position, plus our great recruiting class that is coming in, so I think we will be able to achieve our goal of closing that gap of the provincial standard set by the Mustangs down the road," said Ptaszek.
“This means being better at offence, defence and special teams, and attention to detail in every area,” Ptaszek added. “When the Yates Cup is being played in 2019, the Marauders want to be on that field, and I think that’s a realistic goal.”
With weight training, quarterback play and recruiting well underway, the only thing missing is an offensive coordinator, after the departure of Tom Flaxman last week. Once that role is filled, hopefully, Ptaszek and the Marauders will be able to return to that level of excellence that Ptaszek is known for. Although we will have to wait for that first kick-off come August to find out.
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