Starting last Sunday at Coulter Field at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Alouettes players have been giving it their all at training camp in order to find a spot on the team. The level of competition is very high: even veterans like Marc-Olivier Brouillette need to prove themselves at camp.
After one week of training camp, Marc-Olivier is satisfied with the defense’s progress. “We’re progressing faster than the offense, which has to learn a new system and become familiar with new faces,” said the Alouettes safety.
Along with training camp comes pre-season games. And the coaching staff prepares differently as compared to regular season games. “Pre-season games serve to evaluate the players. They also give new players the chance to acclimatize to the realities of the Canadian Football League in terms of having to make plays much faster,” said Brouillette.
For the first pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the coaching staff’s preparation is more complicated as they don’t have a lot of information readily available. “Seeing as teams have yet to play a game this season, we don’t have detailed reports about the opposition like we would during the regular season. What we can do is look at what they did last year and make sure we’re on top of our game and our responsibilities on defense,” said Brouillette, who is originally from Montreal.
Training camp also gives players the chance to try new plays on the field. “It’s certain that some plays will work better than others. We’ll try them out against our offense as well as during the pre-season games. And throughout the season, we evaluate each play in order to remove those that don’t work and add new ones that should make us better,” said Brouillette.
Although Brouillette is an experiened veteran, he still needs to prove himself at training camp. “Even if some players at my position succumb to injuries, I don’t take anything for granted. Each day when I take to the field I commit to going all-out so that our coaching staff continues to have confidence in me.”
Watch Marc-Olivier Brouillette in action on June 30 when the Alouettes play their regular season home opener! -> TICKETS
