It has been 43 years since Montreal was the Gray Cup and Vanier Cup champions in the same year. And as chance sometimes does things well, two of the main architects of these triumphs are old accomplices in life. In addition to being living proof of the attachment of an entire neighborhood to football.
Danny Maciocia, general manager of the Alouettes, and Marco Iadeluca, head coach of the Université de Montréal Carabins, were honored Monday evening by the Saint-Léonard borough. The one where they were born, where they grew up and where they still live.
We celebrated their respective championships, of course, but also all the cumulative successes since their debut in the world of oval ball with the Saint-Léonard Cougars, an organization created nearly 40 years ago by Antonio Iadeluca senior – the cousin of Marco – and who made the neighborhood one of the most fertile breeding grounds for this sport in Montreal.
Many Cougars players were also present, with their jerseys on their backs, for the ceremony. A few veterans, too, including the Alouettes Régis Cibasu and Louis-Philippe Bourassa, who also played for the Carabins. Some of these young footballers, accompanied by their parents, then lined up to get an autograph from Maciocia or Iadeluca. Without forgetting the photo of the occasion with the Gray Cup and the Vanier Cup, clearly displayed in the center of the table.
“To come back home and share this with alumni and current Cougars, it’s special. It’s unique. For me, it is very important to give back [à la communauté]and this is a way of doing it,” rejoiced Maciocia in an interview with The Press.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Montreal Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia
“It’s so moving,” says Iadeluca. I was a little baseball player at St. Leonard and they started football when I was 16. I changed [de sport] and I haven’t stopped since. It was here that I had the passion and the bug for football. »
Colleagues, but above all friends
It was precisely with the Cougars that Macioca and Marco Iadeluca crossed paths for the first time, in the early 90s. The first was an offensive coordinator, the second was a quarterback.
Over the years, their professional paths have taken different directions. They had the opportunity to meet on the sidelines of a football field in 2010 when Maciocia, then head coach of the Carabins, offered Iadeluca to become his offensive coordinator.
But no matter where their coaching lives took them, their friendship never wavered. The two men and their families frequently traveled together. Their daughters indulge in cheerleading. Iadeluca is also the godfather of one of Macioca’s daughters, Alessia.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The head coach of the Université de Montréal Carabins, Marco Iadeluca
“ [Danny], he’s someone I’m still in touch with, and we also hang out socially with our families. From a professional point of view, whenever I need advice, to talk about an idea or to know how he would handle things, I pick up the phone, I call him and we talk. He is always there. He is a mentor for me and he always will be,” explains Iadeluca.
“A special place”
If Monday evening allowed us to see anything, it was to what extent the Saint-Léonard community is a football fanatic thanks to the Cougars. What explains this craze?
“For the last 30 or 40 years, they have been able to produce excellent players and coaches. It’s a pool, a place where you know you’ll be good coachedexplains Maciocia.
“But I think the key with this organization is the human aspect,” he continues. From the moment you set foot here, you’re not just a football player. You are an extension of their family. And that speaks very, very loudly. »
Iadeluca, for his part, believes that Saint-Léonard is “a special place for football”.
“A lot of people who come through here have gone on to coach and gone on to the college, university or professional level. It always brings excitement and it always helps the organization. Young people see that there is a possibility of reaching the level to which they aspire,” he notes.
We obviously don’t know if Danny Maciocia and Marco Iadeluca will have the opportunity again to bring the Gray and Vanier Cups to Saint-Léonard at the same time, in the more or less near future. What is certain, however, is that their successes will continue to inspire a whole generation of footballers.
And that the two men will never forget their roots.