By John Matisz

“It’s busy at the college.”

It was a simple, yet appropriate, statement from Fanshawe Falcons athletic officer Ernie Durocher Monday evening (Aug. 29).

With the school’s varsity soccer training camps well underway and others scheduled to begin over the next couple weeks, Durocher and the rest of the Fanshawe Athletics staff have their hands full.

Although he could not confirm try-out numbers for each team since several players had not yet returned to London, Durocher did mention about 50 women and 80 men tried out last year.

Leading the collegiate footy squads are two of the Forest City’s top soccer minds. Martin Painter, head coach of FC London, will play head honcho on the women’s sidelines in 2011-12, while Paul D’Hollander is back for his 14^th straight year as the men’s bench boss.

Big news from the summer for Durocher and company in terms of logistics is the implementation of a two-tiered system within Fanshawe Athletics’ league, Ontario College Athletics Association (OCAA).

Durocher said Fanshawe will join what has been named “Division I” with other colleges such as Humber in Toronto, Sheridan in Oakville and Algonquin in Ottawa. “Division II,” on the other hand, will consist of smaller schools like Fleming College and Conestoga College.

The new province-wide set-up aims to provide a more equal playing field for all OCAA teams, said Durocher.

The pre-season begins for the Falcons Sept. 10 and 12, with the men playing their first exhibition match two days earlier than the women.