McMaster football\u00a0program sends\u00a0five\u00a0athletes to the upcoming CFL invitational combine hosted in Waterloo\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every young athlete dreams of getting drafted by a professional team to make a legacy for themselves.\u00a0For the five McMaster football stars invited to the Canadian Football League\u00a0combine, their dreams are beginning to take shape.\u00a0Anthony\u00a0Sestanovic<\/a>,\u00a0Everett\u00a0Reid<\/a>\u00a0and late addition Aaron\u00a0Lavers<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0bound for the CFL invitational\u00a0combine<\/a>, as Ethan\u00a0Stuart<\/a>\u00a0and Frank\u00a0Vreugdenhil<\/a>\u00a0prepare to compete on the CFL\u2019s national combine stage<\/a>.\u00a0 You swim or you drown \u2026 training camp is seven in the morning to seven at night.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0all football, and the learning curve is\u00a0steep.<\/p>\n Anthony Sestanovic As a first-year\u00a0athlete\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0started in special teams slowly building up to his starting opportunity at\u00a0linebacker<\/a>\u00a0in his second year. As he grew into the\u00a0role,\u00a0so did his leadership and football IQ as his reliability and durability became some of his defining traits. Since stepping onto the field for McMaster,\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0has played in all 34\u00a0games for which he was eligible.\u00a0 The routine he typically endures revolves around the staples of the event: the 40-yard dash, 225-pound bench press, vertical and broad\u00a0jumps\u00a0and agility drills like the 5-10-5 shuttle. He finds himself training at McMaster three days a week for sprint mechanics while other days are focused on lifting. Some days demand both.\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0is currently training under McMaster football alumni and\u00a0member\u00a0of the\u00a0Vanier\u00a0Cup<\/a>\u00a0team, Joey\u00a0Nemet<\/a>.\u00a0 The 40 is the king of them all \u2026 People think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just running, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so technical, you need to know stance, projection, transition. One small fix can change\u00a0everything.<\/p>\n Anthony Sestanovic With two linebackers from Mac heading into the combine, one might ask if there is any friendly competition amongst the teammates.\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0says he is proud and supportive of his fellow linebacker Aaron\u00a0Lavers\u00a0who earned a late addition to the combine. Lavers had been battling injuries in his third year of eligibility and has worked hard to earn his spot at the invitational.\u00a0 Being an Oakville kid,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0between the Argos and the Ticats.\u00a0But being here at McMaster, the Ticats would be pretty special.\u00a0That would feel really full\u00a0circle.<\/p>\n Anthony Sestanovic As five McMaster athletes forged in the steel city prepare to make the leap from the university level to the big-leagues,\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0and his teammates\u00a0showcase\u00a0the talent and hardworking mentalities that being a Marauder produces.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McMaster football\u00a0program sends\u00a0five\u00a0athletes to the upcoming CFL invitational combine hosted in Waterloo\u00a0 Every young athlete dreams of getting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-470169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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For fourth-year commerce student Anthony\u00a0Sestanovic,\u00a0this long journey has been the result of years of tremendous effort and the path to CFL\u00a0honours\u00a0is only getting started. Having started his football career in high school, Sestanovic\u00a0has since honed his craft over\u00a0his\u00a0four year\u00a0tenure\u00a0in the McMaster football program. He claims the McMaster football program shaped\u00a0who he is from day one, as he describes his early years at McMaster as a lesson in survival.\u00a0
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\u201cYou swim or you drown \u2026 training camp is seven in the morning to seven at night.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0all football, and the learning curve is\u00a0steep,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Sestanovic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McMaster Men’s Football<\/p>\n
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Before the\u00a0combine,\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0and several teammates had the opportunity in their third year of eligibility to\u00a0participate\u00a0in the\u00a0East-West Bowl<\/a>, an all-star showcase for draft eligible U SPORTS players. This event gave him the opportunity to network with fellow players from around the conference and compete in front of scouts and\u00a0general\u00a0mangers\u00a0of various CFL teams.\u00a0
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\u201cThe bowl gave me confidence. It showed me that I belong here and that\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0good enough to take this to the next\u00a0level,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Sestanovic.\u00a0
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Fast forward to today,\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0and his teammates are in the midst of a ruthless training regimen to prep for the various drills they will face.\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0specifically is involved with a draft-prep group that helps you get physically prepared for the combine’s various tests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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With\u00a0Sestanovic\u00a0priding himself on being a \u201cgym rat\u201d he sets his goals high for the various\u00a0tests. He hopes to run a sub\u00a04.3\u00a0seconds\u00a0time in shuttle as well as break his record of 24 reps on\u00a0the\u00a0225lb\u00a0bench press\u00a0that he earned at the East-West bowl. He also hopes to prove his speed and agility in the classic 40-yard dash.\u00a0
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\u201cThe 40 is the king of them all \u2026 People think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just running, but\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so technical, you need to know stance, projection, transition. One small fix can change\u00a0everything,\u201d said\u00a0Sestanovic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McMaster Men’s Football<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0really happy\u00a0for him,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0been through a lot. Seeing him get that opportunity means a lot to\u00a0me,\u201d said\u00a0Sestanovic.\u00a0
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Sestanovic\u00a0is focused on his performance at the invitational combine on March 6, where strong performances can earn a spot at the national combine in Edmonton later in March. After which the process accelerates as he moves on\u00a0to\u00a0interviews and finally the draft on April 28.\u00a0
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When asked about a preferred draft\u00a0destination\u00a0he said he was open and grateful for any opportunity, with a few key suitors at the back of his mind.\u00a0
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\u201cBeing an Oakville kid,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0between the Argos<\/a> and the Ticats<\/a>.\u00a0But being here at McMaster, the Ticats would be pretty special.\u00a0That would feel really full\u00a0circle,\u201d said\u00a0Sestanovic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
McMaster Men’s Football<\/p>\n