Varsity Blues football / en #UofTBackToSchool: Football goals and academic dreams /news/uoftbacktoschool-football-goals-and-academic-dreams <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">#UofTBackToSchool: Football goals and academic dreams </span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-09-05-BTS-GRIFFIN-ASSANCE-GOULAIS-LEAD.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ezuTUqlB 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-09-05-BTS-GRIFFIN-ASSANCE-GOULAIS-LEAD.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=cbTQc21m 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-09-05-BTS-GRIFFIN-ASSANCE-GOULAIS-LEAD.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=s9oCmUE3 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-09-05-BTS-GRIFFIN-ASSANCE-GOULAIS-LEAD.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ezuTUqlB" alt="Griffin Assance-Goulais at Varsity Stadium"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>hjames</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-09-07T00:00:00-04:00" title="Thursday, September 7, 2017 - 00:00" class="datetime">Thu, 09/07/2017 - 00:00</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Griffin Assance-Goulais, a first-year life sciences student, says he dreams of playing football for the Varsity Blues and becoming a doctor (photo by Hannah James)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/hannah-james" hreflang="en">Hannah James</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Hannah James </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/uoftbacktoschool" hreflang="en">#UofTBacktoSchool</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/varsity-blues-football" hreflang="en">Varsity Blues football</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-medicine" hreflang="en">Faculty of Medicine</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/soar" hreflang="en">SOAR</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item"> </div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When you’re shy, sometimes you need a little push.</p> <p>That’s what <strong>Griffin Assance-Goulais </strong>learned when his younger brother&nbsp;lovingly shoved&nbsp;him in front of ؿζSM's Varsity Blues defensive line coach <strong>Joe Cappiello</strong> at a tryout camp in Oshawa, Ont., and said, ‘Hey coach, this is my brother Griffin and he wants to go to your school.'"&nbsp;</p> <p>He got noticed. It was, Assance-Goulais says, exactly what he needed to pursue his dream of studying science and playing football at U of T.</p> <p>“When I want something, I want it,” says Assance-Goulais, an accomplished athlete who competed in high school sports, including javelin, shotput and football.</p> <p>As a high school student, he also took part in two of U of T’s programs for teens, which he says helped crystallize his goals. He spent one week last year at the Faculty of Medicine's&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ysp.utoronto.ca/med">Youth Summer Program</a>&nbsp;and prior to that spent March break at the&nbsp;<a href="https://kpe.utoronto.ca/soar-aboriginal-youth-gathering">SOAR</a>&nbsp;Aboriginal Youth Gathering.</p> <h3><a href="/news/high-school-students-spread-their-wings-u-t-s-soar-program">Read more about U of T's SOAR program for teens</a></h3> <p>Since then, Assance-Goulais, who is Anishinaabe and whose&nbsp;home community is Chimnissing First Nation on Christian Island – a place he describes as “the most beautiful place on Earth” – has decided he wants to pursue medicine, with the hopes of eventually working in his community.</p> <p>His first step: starting in the life sciences program at U of T and having "a dream come true"&nbsp;– signing&nbsp;a letter of intent with the&nbsp;<a href="http://varsityblues.ca/index.aspx?path=football">Varsity Blues football team</a>. As the New College student&nbsp;adjusts to life on U of T's&nbsp;downtown campus,&nbsp;he is also training four to six days a week with&nbsp;varsity&nbsp;coaches&nbsp;at the Goldring Centre&nbsp;so he can join Varsity Blues veteran players in their strict training regimen.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5883 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/2017-09-05-GRIFFIN-FOOTBALL.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 680px; height: 453px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Griffin Assance-Goulais, No.&nbsp;83,&nbsp;playing with the&nbsp;North Bay Bulldogs (photo courtesy of Griffin Assance-Goulais)</em></p> <p><strong>Greg Gary, </strong>Varsity Blues head coach and manager of football operations, says Assance-Goulais's dogged persistence helped the young football player.</p> <p>The coach decided to invite Assance-Goulais to U of T for a tryout and a tour of the university. “We hadn’t seen him play a lot of football at that point, but once we invited him down and saw him play, we thought he would be a really good fit for the program,” he says.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt="Photo of letter-signing" class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__5902 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" src="/sites/default/files/2017-09-06-varsityblues_2.jpg" style="margin: 10px; width: 417px; height: 453px; float: left;" typeof="foaf:Image"></p> <p>Assance-Goulais signed the letter of intent, with Gary at his side, in the spring (see photo, left).</p> <p>Gary says Assance-Goulais is coming from a smaller centre for football that hasn't had the same calibre&nbsp;of competition as some larger centres, “Physically he can play the game. It’s just a matter of developing him.”&nbsp;</p> <p>For Assance-Goulais, his ultimate goal is to become a doctor because he loves helping others and wants to work in his community.</p> <p>“I want to be better than me five minutes ago, better than me a week ago, better than a month ago,” says Assance-Goulais. “That goes for everything – football and,&nbsp;above all else, for academics."</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 07 Sep 2017 04:00:00 +0000 hjames 114767 at