Vincent Massey preparing for another season

The Vincent Massey Vikings football team opened training camp for the 2026 season this week with the goal of improving on and off the field.

Head coach Mike Steeves has run the program since 2009, making this his 18^th year as the Vikings bench boss.

“We’ve always had good athletic players,” said Steeves. “We’re missing some size on some guys, so we’re just trying to fill some holes on the O-line, but other than that we just have some great athletes and defensively we look really strong.”

At this point in the season, every team will be trying to fill holes in the lineup. That’s a given with players aging out or moving on to different opportunities.

The abundance of leadership on the Vincent Massey sideline will undoubtedly make other teams jealous. That starts with Steeves, but the trickle-down effect is obvious to anyone who watches the Vikings practice.

“I like to think football develops leaders,” said Steeves. “Not everyone is a rah-rah guy, but it’s important to flex your seniority just a little bit.

“It’s much easier to have those coaches on the field than for us to have to do all the, not necessarily discipline, but just hold kids accountable.”

Led by senior Charlier Gauthier — who is going into his second year as the starting quarterback for Massey — the returners on the squad take a lot of responsibility for the way the team conducts itself.

With just a word from Steeves, Gauthier and the other veterans run warmups and throughout practice they uphold the internal standards that the team adheres to.

“You jog to drills because you don’t want to waste time,” said Gauthier. “Our coaches, some of them are volunteering to be here. They aren’t getting paid and we don’t want to waste their time.

“It’s just about being a decent human and I think Massey football doesn’t prepare you for football as much as it prepares you for life and being a good, honest, hard-working person.”

Last year, Gauthier helped the Vikings to a 4-3 record during the regular season. In the playoffs, they met the St. Paul’s Crusaders who beat the Vikings 53-0, ending their season.

With a year under his belt, Gauthier will be better prepared to lead the team to success this season.

“He’s worked really hard, always does. He takes it very serious. He loves the sport and he’s very charismatic,” said Steeves about his starting quarterback. “For us, he knows the game really well so it’s like having another coach … It makes the offence run a little bit better.”

Gauthier expects the offence to run smoothly this year.

“Our receivers look great, everybody has been putting in work in the offseason,” said Gauthier. “We have our best running back room since Brayden Smith. Everything is looking strong. One game we will pass for 300 yards, one game we will run for 300 yards. We will fire on all cylinders for sure.”

Smith graduated in 2024 after a phenomenal final season with the Vikings.

On the defensive side of the ball, Vincent Massey has a strong group of returning players. Seniors Cash Laluk and Ryan Rennie will both return as linebackers. The pair played for Team Manitoba U17 two years ago, and Rennie just wrapped up representing Manitoba with the U18 squad this summer.

“I’m thrilled, like I’m jumping with joy,” said Laluk. “This is my favourite time of year. Just to be out here with the guys hitting each other, having fun and getting a good workout, it’s just my life. I love it.”

This year, Laluk will have the opportunity to play on both sides of the ball as he has elected to take up the challenge of playing on the O-line on top of his duties as a linebacker. He expects the defence to be ruthless this year.

“I don’t know any word but physical,” said Laluk when describing the defence’s style of play. “Getting yards back, getting sacks and getting interceptions. Our style of play, it’s just inevitable. We’re all going to be coming at you. It’s going to be fun.”

He can’t wait to get into a game. Hitting the pads and working on drills with your teammates is all well and good, but Laluk is fired up for the real deal. At this point in the season he knows its most important to put in the reps and develop the muscle memory the team will need when the season starts.

It’s important the Vikings are efficient with their time as there isn’t much remaining before the start of the season.

The Vikings play an exhibition game at home against Oak Park on Sept. 3. Just over a week later, they kick of the regular season on the road with a matchup against Winnipeg’s Vincent Massey Trojans on Sept. 11.

“It’s a tough start,” said Steeves. “We always stress the scoreboard can’t define you … We’ve won a lot of games we were embarrassed by, and we’ve lost a lot of games we were proud of.”

“Our job is to get better every week. Let’s try real hard, let’s be competitive, let’s set small goals, things we can accomplish, and things will either go our way or won’t and we have to deal with it. It’s life.”

A tough start can be a very good thing for a team if it’s handled correctly. Seeing the best in the division early will raise the bar for a team with the potential to go far this season.

Over the course of 17 years, Steeves has established a culture at Vincent Massey. The players are fired up for the season and willing to give it their all on the field, but at the end of the day they are just as concerned about developing as people and as a group.

“On the back of our jerseys we’ve got (the word) character. It’s about building that character,” said Gauthier. “We’re not a team, we’re a family … if it’s a team, you come back in five years, you’re just watching a game. But family, you come back in five years, and you’re still a part of the team.”

»rmccarthy@brandonsun.com