March 13 was not a particularly pleasant day. The prospect of losing an hour of sleep during daylight savings, coupled with heavy rain and ferocious wind gloomed over the city of Toronto. But this didn’t have any effect on the athletes in the Park Hyatt Hotel in downtown Toronto, where 54 football prospects were invited to the CFL Evaluation Camp, hoping to catch the eyes of coaches and scouts for a chance to play in the league. The two-day event started with the individual drills: the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, standing jump, the short shuttle, and of course, a Calvin Klein modeling show where players stripped down to their undies for official measurement.
One of those models was Varsity Blues star defensive back Derek Batchelor. The 5’11”, 190-pound Mississauga native has been an integral part of Blues defence. He led the team in solo tackles in three of the past four years and arrived at the camp coming off one of his finest seasons, recording a team-high 50 tackles in eight games and being ranked seventh in the OUA.
As the sole representative of the Varsity Blues, Batchelor said that it was a great honour to be in his hometown and home school to play host to this event.
“I was very nervous,” said Batchelor. “I was confident coming into camp. But I hear everybody here is a freak. All the best athletes in Canada are gathered here and I am excited to just have a chance to show my stuff.”
To get invited to the camp, players have to get voted in by all CIS coaches across the country. As a result, a player not only has to be excellent, but consistent in every game to earn the confidence of all coaches. In the camp, Batchelor reassured that confidence, performing admirably in all drills, particularly the 40-yard dash. He posted an impressive 4.56, ranking fourth out of all defensive backs and tied for 10th overall.
“I felt I did really well. There’s always room for improvement, but it’s been a great experience,” commented Batchelor. He also mentioned that his unorthodox major, computer science, has helped him become a better athlete. “Most of the athletes here are arts majors [enrolled in programs like] history and sociology. But I find that computer science enables me to think more critically and react more quickly at game time. At the same time, my major has relatively fewer classes with more projects, kind of like football with few games and lots of practices. Every week, I have to manage my time very well to fit in all the plans.”
The Sunday event had some interesting sights. The Varsity dome was evidently not high enough for Guelph kicker Rob Maver. One of his massive punts just hit the top of the bubble. This year also featured a deep pool of wide receivers, most notably Steven Turner of Bishop’s University, who smashed the 40-yard dash record with a time of 4.31.
The Blues had another challenging season this past year, finishing 1-7. But looking back to the past season, Batchelor spoke with great pride. “Everybody trained so hard and fought so hard to win every game. We have many great rookies this year [roughly half of the Blues 2009-10 rosters are players in their first year of eligibility] and we are continuing to improve. The coaches have prepared us well and I want to come back next year and lead the team in solo tackles again. We want to win every game.”
On whether he has a preferred team for the draft, Batchelor modestly stated that he just “wants a chance.” “I have been dreaming of this since I was a kid,” exclaimed Batchelor, “being able to get a chance to play in a professional league. And being paid for doing what I love, playing football, wow, that’s amazing and I feel so blessed.” Indeed, besides skills, Batchelor also brings some of the most sought-after intangibles to the table: competitiveness and passion.
“We are pleasantly surprised by the pool of talent showcased in the last two days,” commented one Argo coach. “We are actually leaving here with more questions than answers.” Well, I left the camp with a resounding answer: Derek Batchelor has a bright future ahead of him. If he was not on the map already, he has now definitely put himself in the mix as one of the top prospects. I hope he dons a CFL jersey in six weeks after the CFL Draft and dons a few Grey Cup rings in the years to come.
