One big goal down for former mustang Anthony Federico

By Bernie Puchalski - May 18, 2021

Anthony Federico was named to the 2021 East-West Bowl roster by U SPORTS and the Canadian Football League. Photos by Jeff Chan.

Anthony Federico can check another item off his list of football goals.

The 23-year-old Niagara Falls native was recently named to the roster for the 2021 East-West Bowl roster by U SPORTS and the Canadian Football League.

No game will be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rosters include the next generation of top Canadian football prospects and identifies 110 U SPORTS-eligible standouts identified for the 2022 CFL Draft.

“It has been a big goal of mine since I started playing at university,” the Saint Michael alumnus said. “To be able to check off that goal was a big accomplishment.”

The 6-foot-4, 245 pound defensive lineman has plenty more goals yet to achieve.

“My main goal is that I really want to go play in the CFL after next season and I have some individual goals I would like to achieve,” he said. “I want to break the single season sack record at Queen’s University (12 set by Jim Aru). That has been goal of mine since I looked at the stats when I entered the university.”

Federico played all eight games as a rookie in 2018 and led team with five sacks and had seven tackles for losses. In 2019, his 7.5 sacks tied for second in Ontario University Athletics and USPORTS and he added 15 tackles for losses to win the Orrin Carson Trophy as his team’s top defensive lineman.

He also has a number of team goals that are equally high on his list.

“I don’t know how the national championship is going to look this year with COVID but I want to win a Yates Cup (OUA championship). I want to host that game and get the ring.”

2020 would have been his third season with Gaels if not for the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out all university sports for the 2020-21 school year.

“It was terrible,” the former Niagara Spear said. “For me, football has always been there and it is something that I look forward to every single year once fall came around. Last year, there was nothing.”

But rather than moan about his fate, Federico chose to look at the break as a blessing in disguise.

“I took the time to get faster, get stronger, work on little things and heal my body,” he said. “I have been playing football non-stop since around Grade 6 and I have never had a chance to take a year off and heal a little bit. I healed the joints and the body up to get ready for next season and the year after that and the year after that.”

Federico, who is majoring in economics with a minor in employee relations at Queen’s, spent his school year in Kingston. Although the team wasn’t able to practice with contact, it was able to work on a lot of things together because the region was green under the COVID-19 framework.

“We practised like we were in a season. It was four or five times a week and we had competitive periods. We would race each other to keep that competitive edge within us and we made the most of the situation.”

The weight room was available for varsity athletes and the team as able to lift once a week.

Federico is now home for the summer, working and training for next season. He is hoping things will improve in Ontario and he will be able to head to Queen’s training camp in August.

“September 18 is the day,” he said. “That is the day of our first game against Carleton.”

He is hoping to take another step forward in his progression this coming season.

“My biggest goal is to become smarter as a defensive player. Going into my third season now, I have a greater understanding of the system and now I want to be able to understand different kinds of adjustments. I want to be smarter football player rather than someone who is athletic and just attacks.”

Federico started playing football in Grade 6 with the Niagara Minor Football Association and then moved on to suit up for Saint Michael. He played for the Niagara Spears in his Grade 12 and 12B years and committed to attend Waterloo after high school but he didn’t have the grades to get into the university.

Rather than give up, he went to Niagara College and earned a diploma in sports management and played two seasons with the Hamilton Hurricanes in the Canadian Junior Football League.

“Football was still my thing and I still wanted to play so I took the route of the CJFL and did two years there,” he said. “Once my time was up at Niagara, I realized I still wanted to further my education and my football playing so I found Queen’s University and it turned out to best fit for me.”