When people think of football in London, the Western Mustangs program is the first thing that would come to mind. Why not? They are the big-ticket event in the Forest City for at least three months a year, and haven’t had a losing season since Y2K. With the stature that the Western football team has in the city, they themselves grew the interest in football in youth. That’s where the London Jr. Mustangs football program comes in, as they are the premier football program in London.

Before there was the Jr. Mustangs, there were the London Falcons who played in the OVFL. At the time, the Falcons were the premier youth football program, but then Daniel Valente and his cousin Mike Valenza purchased the Falcons in 2010. Valente was already involved in coaching high school football at Saunders Secondary School in London, and clearly saw an opportunity to start something in youth football based on what he was seeing on the high school level. With Valente funding the effort, he purchased the London Falcons, and aimed to turn them into a youth football program for the city of London. They would, however, have to operate in competition with the other major football program in London in the Forest City Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds have been around since 2000, and compete in the Ontario Football Conference (OFC). Valente’s Jr. Mustangs program were slated to compete in the Ontario Football League (OFL) and the Ontario Premier Football League (OPFL), so the Jr. Mustangs and the Thunderbirds would never have any cause to play against one another. Eventually, the Thunderbirds turned into a double-A football program, while the Jr. Mustangs were the triple-A option.

Along with his involvement in high school football, Daniel Valente also had a son who was showing promise in the sport.  Current Western Mustang DB Daniel Valente Jr. was a young kid at the time playing house league football within the London Minor Football Association (LMFA). When Valente Sr. started the Jr. Mustangs program in 2011, the younger Valente was eager to join in his peewee year. In the first year of the London Jr. Mustangs’ existence, Valente’s peewee team had a perfect season en route to a provincial championship. Valente Jr. proceeded to graduate from the Jr. Mustangs program to be a starter on the Western Mustangs’ Vanier Cup-winning team in 2017 as a rookie, being named to the OUA all-rookie team as well.

After a couple of years at the helm of the London Jr. Mustangs, Daniel Valente Sr. stepped down as president of the league as he had to move to Dubai for work, making way for Mike Circelli. The Circelli name is synonymous with football in London, as his two sons Jean-Paul and Joe are both on the coaching staff for the Western Mustangs football program. When the Circellis aren’t coaching one Mustangs team, they are coaching another, as J.P is a provincial championship-winning head coach at the Junior Varsity, and Varsity levels, usually alongside is brother in the process. Since Papa Circelli took over as president, the Jr. Mustangs program expanded from three teams to six. There is an atom team (U-10) two peewee teams (U-12), a bantam team (U-14), a Junior Varsity team (U-16), and a Varsity team (U-18), all competing in the most competitive leagues in Ontario in the OFL and OPFL. That doubling in program size shows the impact that the Jr. Mustangs have on football in the community, as younger kids yearned to play the game.

The operation of the London Jr. Mustangs football program is reliant on tireless volunteers. Since its founding, the volunteers who sacrifice their time to help out in the operation of all the teams are the backbone of the program. On any given year, the Jr. Mustangs will see over 100 volunteers pitch in. Their efforts are seen anywhere from organizing the schedules, to running concessions on game days, to recruiting players for the next year’s team. Even though the seasons of the Jr. Mustangs are only three months long, the volunteers work year-round, as there are off-season training camps, fundraising efforts and other events that need helping hands in order to run. If you have a chance to attend TD Stadium or City Wide Field for a day of London Jr. Mustangs football, you will surely be amazed by the hard work and cooperation by everyone dawning a purple shirt, ensuring the day runs smoothly.

There’s an obvious connection between the London Jr. Mustangs and the Western Mustangs in the fact that they just so happen to share the same name, logo, and colours. But that relationship is an essential one in developing the London Jr. Mustangs into a powerhouse in provincial football. Along with the affiliation, comes the resources that Western has including their fields at TD Stadium, film rooms and some of the members of the Western team. Along with the Circellis, players from the Western Mustangs football team help coach some of the teams, as Chris Merchant has worked with some of the quarterbacks, and Mackenzie Ferguson chipping in as a defensive backs coach for the JV team this past season. There have been numerous graduates of the Jr. Mustangs program that have gone on to dawn the purple and white at the OUA level for the Western Mustangs such as the aforementioned Daniel Valente Jr., and Mackenzie Ferguson, plus Matthew Bettencourt, Craig Hinschberger and Nick Vanin just to name a few.

The esteemed alumni pool is only continuing to grow, as this year’s Varsity team has a generational player: Taz Vang Bell. The running back has completely torn up the OPFL this year, rushing for 1137 yards and 15 touchdowns in just seven games this season. Taz averages over 14 yards per carry, and is essentially guaranteed a 40+ yard run at least once a game. If you ask any player, parent, or coach about the Tazmanian Devil, they will say that he is one of the best London Jr. Mustangs to ever put on the jersey. While TVB is unsure about where football will take him, he will surely be remembered as an all-time great for the London Jr. Mustangs. He credits the London Jr. Mustangs program to his success, as they constantly developed him, and gave him an opportunity to play football outside of high school, which is a valuable asset to any football player.

That extra football that players are able to enjoy with the London Jr. Mustangs is crucial in cultivating football talent in the London and surrounding area. By giving players year-round training, it creates a system similar to the CEGEP in Quebec, where after grade 11, kids travel to a university college to play football at a competitive level, also with year-round training. The CEGEP is the primary reason why schools such as Laval consistently win on the national stage. But the Western Mustangs dethroned the Rouge et Or at the 2017 Vanier Cup, suggesting that there is a changing of the tide when it comes to developing football talent in Canada.

Since its inception in 2011, the London Jr. Mustangs program as a whole has doubled its amount of teams, while creating championship contenders in every level over that time. In 2018, the Jr. Mustangs had a combined record of 43-8, five of the six teams earning regular season conference championships, two provincial championships at the peewee level, and all six teams making their respective playoffs. While the Jr. Mustangs are enjoying their current success, they are always looking to grow more. They are bringing in talent from further away, such as Varsity quarterback Garrett Holmes who started the GoGarrettGo foundation which helps kids in Children’s Network Hospitals. With the traction they are gaining in the community, along with the success they are having in the province, the London Jr. Mustangs have truly turned into the premier program to play football in London. The Forest City will always be considered a hockey town, but programs like the Jr. Mustangs show that the London community will band together for the sport of football. Perhaps there is a player on the Jr. Mustangs right now that will shatter OUA records in the near future. As the London Jr. Mustangs grow, that becomes a more legitimate possibility year after year.