As soon as Liam Noakes’ football cleats grace the turf, he transforms from a first-year Business Law student into a determined football player who caught the eye of the defensive coordinator of the Carleton Ravens football team, Ryan Bechmanis.
Sports have always been a big part of Noakes’ life, but he found his calling in football.
“I tried every sport and I couldn’t get into it,” he said. “But from the day I started football I loved it, and I battled a lot of controversy within the football world, but it’s always kept me coming back.”
When the Mississauga native’s head isn’t in his football helmet, he has it in his textbooks studying away, because he knows that at any moment his career could be ended by an injury. Because of this understanding, Noakes tells the aspiring football players to keep schoolwork and football as balanced, main priorities.
Even though the dream he has worked so hard to achieve could come to an end in a split second during any play, Noakes is continuously overwhelmed with the love of the game during every second of the season thus far.
“The feeling once you put on the bucket and you strap on the pads – nothing beats it,” he said. “You’re in the room with your brothers and about to go to war and you put everything you have into the next two hours; it’s sublime.”
When it came time to choose universities, the defensive linebacker knew right away that Carleton was the place for him. According to Noakes, the school’s family-oriented environment, the coaches, and the program were all deciding factors and he couldn’t be happier with his choice.
Noakes said that he “gelled really well” with the team, and they are becoming more and more of a brotherhood every day.
Homecoming (Carleton’s first since 1998!) is just another thing Noakes had to look forward to when Coach Bechmanis approached him at one of his summer games during his high school years.
“Throwback [the theme for Carleton’s Homecoming] is going to be an amazing experience that will add to the already great feedback and enthusiasm we’ve had from the school. I’m really excited to be a part of the new history ingrained into the school’s legacy,” he explained.
No matter the outcome of the season, Noakes said he hopes the team will continue to grow.
“By the end of the season I hope that we all come together as a unit, due largely to the fact that we started from scratch,” he said. “The team plans to build every day, every practice, and every game, get better as we go along, and become a solid group, a family. Achieving this would be a monumental accomplishment and a great step towards our collective goal as a team.”
Image source: http://goravens.carleton.ca/teams/football/roster/
For more information on Carleton Homecoming: http://www.carleton.ca/throwback/