With a brand new season on the horizon and many new faces in the 'Cats locker room, the Hamilton Excutive has decided to change the face of our on-field captains as well. Athletic phenom Mike "Abs" Nolan has been selected as the Hamilton Wildcats Captain for the 2008 season, which is a promotion from his '07 Vice Captain role. Greg "Plugger" Young, in his 2nd season with the 'Cats will also remain as the club's Vice Captain, as he did an incredible job running the team from the backline during games and pushing every player to their limits at training. Ten year veteran of the club, Reuben "Soho" Sculthorp has been selected as our Deputy Vice Captain for the upcoming season, as his courage and determination is definitely an asset we hope rubs off while leading by example. Congratulations to our newly appointed Captain and Vice Captains!

Six LONG months after their disappointing Finals loss to the Toronto Dignos, the Wildcats found their form and started the 2008 season off with a bang, defeating the Guelph Gargoyles 3.6.24 to 2.5.17 at the "Pre-Season Cup" this past weekend in Toronto @ Humber College North. Despite the less than ideal footy conditions, the 'Cats seemed to find themselves at home in the pouring rain, controlling the game and picking up a much needed win after a less than positive finish to their 2007 season. With several key players M.I.A. this past weekend, many of the Wildcat rookies were called upon to step up to the plate and earn their "stripes" versus an extremely mobile and talented Gargoyles roster. 1st year players Jeff Steinmetz, Kris "Killer" McKillop, Brendan Cecil, Craig "Watto" Watt and Harley Graef definitely did not disappoint in their debut game for the "yellow & black", as each player helped in their own way to lift the Steeltown boys to victory. Now the 'Cats hope that their momenteum will carry over into their first offical game of the '08 season, this Saturday in Guelph @ Margaret A. Green Park, May 10th starting at 2pm. Trainings will continue this week, commencing on Tuesday & Thursday evening at Cathedral Park, starting @ 6:30pm. Please attend each of these training sessions, as we look to prepare for the season proper which is less than a week away.
The Guelph Gargoyles have also been kind enough to invite our entire club to take part in a social/fundraising event at the "Wellington Brewery" after the game. It's all you can eat & drink for $25...WHAT A BARGIN! Let's make this weekend a double success; starting the 2008 season 1-0, and waking up Sunday morning with the biggest hangover of all time...preferrably not in jail!

The OAFL (Ontario Australian Football League) is set to embark on her 20th season of footy here in Ontario, with the "Pre-Season Cup" scheduled to kick things off on Saturday, May 3rd at Humber College North in Toronto. All 10 OAFL clubs will be taking part in a "warm-up" day to help knock the leftover winter rust off our bodies, break-in any new umpires as well as giving the rookies and lesser experienced players a chance to learn at full-speed outside of a typical practice setting. As the games progress, rules are explained and coaches swap their respective players to different positions around the oval to see where their warriors are best suited prior to the season proper. With several successful indoor trainings now under our belts, and the winter weather finally giving way to spring, the 2008 OAFL season has officially arrived with the release of the "Pre-Season Cup" schedule. All Pre-Season matches will be played using an altered format; with clubs playing (2) 20min. halves, while competing in 1-2 shortened games through out the course of the afternoon as well as the 1st Annual Rookie/Sophmore match. For those of you who have yet to see this incredible sport in person, or have yet to make it out to training; Saturday, May 3rd @ Humber College North would be a phenominal chance to get your feet wet and to see what all the "fuss" is about concerning the fastest sport on grass!

2008 PRE-SEASON CUP Schedule:
*Games (2) 20min halves.
5 min half time with 5 min change over
10am Game 1 – Hawks v Roos (Umpiring duty: Demons / Eagles / Dingos)
10.50am Game 2 – Combined Demons & Eagles team vs Dingos (Duty: Hawks & Roos)
11.40am Game 3 – Blues v Rebels (goals/boundary umpiring Duty Wildcats & Gargoyles)
12.30pm Game 4 – Wildcats vs Gargoyles (Duty Blues & Rebels)
10min change over
1.30pm – 3.30pm - Northwind (Team Canada) vs OAFL Australian All-Star All Stars
It’s going to be a huge day – we are filming the day with 5 cameras, still shots, promo give aways, "Buzz" energy drink available, BBQs, kids fun stuff…so please get organised and tell EVERYONE that you know…we need you all there! WILDCATS, please RSVP for this event (whether you CAN or CANNOT play), as our coaching staff needs to know how many players we will have in attendance for this event. See you there!

Apparently there was something "special" in our water bottles last year, as the Hamilton Wildcats already welcoming 4 new "cubs" into the den since the end of last season, are pleased to announce the 5th arrival to our growing family. Veteran 'Cat Rich Burgess and his wife Jennifer, are now the proud parents of a bouncing baby boy; Anderson Jude, born on April 24th at 5:23am in the comfort of his own home. He was a bit late, 13 days overdue...but better late than never! The future defensive stud, weighted in at a solid 9lbs and measured 21.5" long...and that was just his inseam! The Wildcats Executive would like to extend our congratulations to the Burgess family, especially to the new parents, Rich and Jen. We hope that Mother and baby are doing well and we look forward to seeing all 3 of you soon.

The OAFL (Ontario Australian Football Leauge) has really pushed to get more exposure for this sport over the last several years, and with the recent grant received from the Trillium Foundation for player delevopment around our league, it's time to give something back. Each club across our league has been asked to participate in the "Sporting Life 10km Road Race" to help raise money for Camp Oochigeas, a camp for children with cancer. This event will be held on Sunday, May 4th in downtown Toronto, and any interested Wildcats can log on to the "Sporting Life" website to pre-register. The goal of the OAFL is to not only help raise heaps of money for this worthy cause, but to also spread the word about Australian Football in Toronto and more importantly, across Ontario. All OAFL participants are asked to wear their respective clubs home guersney (matching shorts optional) while running the race. Please click the following link to learn more about this event or to register online. Hope to see you all at the starting line!

Sporting Life 10km

ATTENTION ALL WILDCATS! The 2008 OAFL Schedule has FINALLY been released...to check this year's fixture, click the following link: 2008 Schedule or visit our SCHEDULE & STATS page!

After several successful indoor training sessions, it looks like Mother Nature has decided to let spring take it's course...and that means OUTDOOR TRAINING SESSIONS BEGIN! We will be holding our 1st outdoor training session this Sunday, April 13th from 3pm-5pm at Cathedral Park , our new training ground. (See article below for map & details on Cathedral Park) Remember guys, there is NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY...so feel free to invite your best mate(s), any family members or co-workers that you think would be keen in coming out to have a kick and learn more about this incredible sport! Our THURSDAY night trainings (8pm-10pm) will still continue at the Brantford Athletic Club (595 West St., Brantford; just off Wayne Gretzky Parkway) until the end of April, so if you haven't yet come out for a night of high intensity weight training & squash workouts we hope to see you there soon! Please confirm your attendance for this Sunday's training session by emailing the executive at: hamiltonwildcats@hotmail.com We hope for a great turn-out for this event, as well as our Thursday night workouts, as these are great opportunities for everyone to get their hands on a footy, have a kick and meet their new teammates for the '08 season!

RIGHT CLICK HERE FOR LARGER MAP
For the past 5 seasons, the Hamilton Wildcats have been holding outdoor training sessions at the public oval adjacent to McMaster University. Due to the City of Hamilton not opening Mohawk Sports Park Complex (our Home Ground) until mid-May, our Club has worked out a deal with the City to secure "Cathedral Park" as our designated training ground for the 2008 season. With it's central location, close proximity to the higway (whether heading East or West), prime exposure and FREE parking; this move looks to be another step in the right direction for the Hamilton Wildcats!

When the Hamilton Wildcats take to the field this season, the opening day line-up will definitely look a bit different than it has in the past 6 seasons. We've not only gained the services of several new Canadian & Australian players, but one of the most noteable characters on our squad will be absent as the 2008 Wildcats open their upcoming season. Veteran winger, Nick "Captain Stabbin" DiRago has decided to take the next 3 months sailing the high seas; in search of burried treasure, a woman who can tolerate his sence of humour and a cure for all his nagging footy injuries! All joking aside, the Hamilton Wildcats AFC would like to wish Nick all the best as he will be taking on the Assistant Art Auctioneer duties on-board a major cruise line until mid-June of this year. Nick will be flying to Detroit tomorrow morning, March 25th, for a week a training before he sets sail to "parts unknown". Nick will have access to email, internet and of course facebook; so he wanted me to let all the guys on the club know that he will be following our results and he expects to be back, injury-free *fingers crossed* to "tear it up" along side the rest of us by mid-June. Bon voyage Capt. DiRago!

Attention all Hamilton Wildcats! Our Club Executive has deicded to team-up with the Guelph Gargoyles & the OAFL Game Development Officers (Emile Studham & Dan Walker), to help better educate our players and coachesfor the upcoming footy season. One of the major goals of the 2008 OAFL Executive, is to help create a better balance between all teams in the league by increased game knowledge and on-field skills. We have booked the indoor soccer fields at "Wentworth Arenas"(www.wentwortharenas.ca), 1249 Wilson St. East in Ancaster on Sunday, April 20th from 7:30am-9:30am. We've asked the Guelph Gargoyles to join us in this opportunity, as they are a club that seems to struggle with the same issues that we've been battling over the past few seasons: finding a non-playing coach as well as a more evenly balanced skill level between all players on our respective clubs. Both clubs have had a handful of extremely talented Australians come through over the years and who have truly left their mark on the field as well as at training, but it's the Canadians that keep our clubs running from year to year and we need to build around those core group of players. Thankfully, the OAFL is here to help. We look forward to having a kick with the Guelph players, as well as having the opportunity to learn from several of the league's top players & coaches on how to improve our skills, footy smarts and training/coaching techniques. Please confirm your attendance for this event at: hamiltonwildcats@hotmail.com

As part of the OAFL's (Ontario Australian Football League) recruitment mandate, Emile Studham (Director of Marketing) and Dan Walker (Director of Game Development) would like to invite any or all of your new players to participate in a Rookies/Sophmores(2nd year players) Match to be held on Saturday April 26th. The venue will be either Humber College South or North. Depending on the weather conditions and how Mother Nature co-operates, this game could be moved to a different date/location, so please stay tuned for further details. All Hamilton Wildcat rookies as well as 2nd Year Players who feel that they are in need of more hands-on experience with the footy or the rules in general, please take note of this date as this match could be very beneficial to your development. The game time will fall in the time range of 10am – 2pm. On this day, the OAFL will also be looking to have a womens match, which would be a very exciting development for the sport here in Ontario. Dan and Emile will be working on this day to help and nurse new players through the many rules of footy and the unique skills demanded of these players. It’s a great opportunity for new players to get a feel for this incredible sport, and not have them thrown in too deep, as they sometimes are asked to do when they play their first game in the OAFL. Dan and Emile will umpire the game, stopping play when required to explain any new rules and help guide the Rookies/Sophmores through to their first game in the OAFL the following week at the "Pre-Season Cup"! Please spread the word, get as many new players there as possible – then we will present them with the best possible footy product, so that they will want to continue to play…and play…and play some more! Hope to see you all there!

YES, it's FINALLY that time of year again...PRE-SEASON FOOTY! Hope everyone has had an alcohol-filled, scale-tippin' off-season...NOW it's time to get back to business. *The 2008 Hamilton Wildcats Executive in conjunction with veteran Wildcat Mike Nolan are offering all Hamilton Wildcats full access to The Brantford Athletic Club (595 West Street, Brantford, ON), every THURSDAY evening starting March 13th, from 8:30pm-9:30pm; hopefully helping to knock the winter 'rust' off our bodies in preparation for the '08 footy season. This is a 35,000+ square foot fitness facility with a salt-water pool, squash courts, circuit training course, aerobic/sports specific training studio, cardio & free weight area. Our goal is to help all current players with anything from their weight training routines, to giving advise regarding sports specific training techniques, nutrition as well as a chance to play squash,focus on indoor cardio training or even use the pool to help get into game shape. Wildcats Justin Settle, Mike Nolan and Charles Thompson are all certified personal trainers, and will be on-hand each week to help put the entire team through the paces. "RIGHT" CLICK HERE FOR MAP LINK & DIRECTIONS We really hope to see the entire team take advantage of what is being offered by the Club, as these training sessions will only make you a better player and take this team even further in '08! It's going to be one hell of a year, so let's start things off on the right foot and not get ourselves stuck behind the 8-ball...take the initiative to start getting in shape now!

Everyone please welcome some new additions to the Wildcat family.

On February 22nd, 2008
Charles 'Speckie' Thompson and wife Rachel had their first child Jaiden Dallas (7lbs 11oz.)

On November 28th, 2007
Jeff 'Chish and Fips' and wife Angela had their first child Julia Lauren (7lbs 0oz).

On Novenber 17th, 2007
Mario 'Mars" Carrara and wife Bianca had their first child Sebastian Vittorio (7lbs 15oz).

On October 19th, 2007
Terry 'Aboo" Brake and wife Krista had their third child Sarah Marie (9lbs 6oz).

Congratulations to all as we hope to see all the little tikes on the sidelines this season. We'd also like to send out our best wishes to the fellow Wildcats and their wives, who are also expecting new arrivals in '08...there must of been something in the water on the Hamilton sidelines last season! Good luck all and congrats to all the new parents!

For a detailed look at everything that happened during the Wildcats 2007 season, both on and off the field, please visit our NEWSpage!

The Hamilton Wildcats are always looking for new players and supporters - no experience necessary.If you are interested in getting involved or playing this exciting sport please visit our RECRUITINGpage or send us an EMAIL