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Interim TD will have chance to prove himself T.A. Blakelock Tigers player Ben Leavitt tries to fend off a pair of St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders defenders last Thursday at Blakelock. The Tigers downed Aquinas 31-3 in their first game on Blakelock's recently-upgraded sports field. | photo by Graham Paine -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog 19 | Wednesday, October 2, 2013 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com Sr. Tigers win first football game on new field A large crowd attended the first football game on T.A. Blakelock High School property in more than two years. The Tigers gave their fans plenty of reason to come back. Blakelock's senior squad defeated the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders 31-3 last Thursday in the inaugural contest on the school's newlyrenovated sports field, and the junior Tigers downed Aquinas 12-6 shortly afterward. Tigers senior coach Jason Kana said his team was extremely motivated to play well in its debut on the main field, which features an improved grass playing surface, replaced bleachers and a new scoreboard. Students were let out of class at 2 p.m. to attend the senior game, and many -- dressed in black, green and white -- stayed four hours until the end of the junior contest. "The overall experience was very much a positive. We stressed about the opportunity to play in front of our school, having not played here in more than two years," Kana said. "We wanted to at least put on a good performance. We like to strike while the iron is hot, to get the senior and junior fans out." Kana, whose team is now 2-0, is optimistic the crowd support will continue now that the Tigers aren't forced to play home games at nearby Bronte Athletic Field. "Whenever you're on campus, you can get the walk-out crowd. When we've been playing at Bronte, it's still a car ride," he said. "This gives the kids a reason not to go home right after school. They can check out the action." The improvements to the Blakelock athletic main field and practice field cost $850,000. The Halton District School Board contributed $600,000 to the project, while the school's Spirit of Support Committee -- a dedicated group of volunteers headed by Blakelock alumnus and Canadian Football League hall of famer Dan Ferrone -- provided the other $250,000. -- For more high school football coverage, visit bit.ly/18LCxFC or see tomorrow's Beaver. continued from p.18 Lopez has coached at the OSC since 2005 and holds United States Soccer Federation National A coaching qualifications. During his short tenure with the club, he oversaw the largest professional age group coaching staff in the club's history as well as a fulltime technical staff which includes category coaches. "The Oakville Soccer Club is sad to lose Dino as our technical director. In his term as TD, Dino made a strong contribution to the advancement of the principles of Long Term Player Development in the club's technical programming for both recreational and competitive players, consistent with our strategic direction," said OSC president Jen Madill. "He's a big loss. He's a real good guy. We're sorry to see him go," Harris said. "At the same time, Rafa (Carbajal) coming in has big credentials... you couldn't find a guy better qualified than Raf. He's been here for three years; he's got the respect of all the coaches, the players and the parents." Harris said Carbajal will likely have a three-month opportunity to prove himself before the club will name a full-time technical director. "He's going to get a chance to show how good he is," Harris said. "We hire from within first. If we have to go outside the family, then we will, but it's not fair to the people who work so hard that they don't get a chance to at least prove themselves." Shhhh... 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