Solie very grateful for Gordie Howe Sports Complex support

Kicker’s football journey heads to CFL’s Roughriders

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

David Solie has signed with the CFL’s Roughriders.

After signing with the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, David Solie was flooded with messages of congratulations and support from people he met at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

Solie, who is the place kicker and punter for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team, has worked at the Complex during his off-seasons taking on various roles for a number of years. When he isn’t working at the Complex as a staff member, he is either training at the Complex grounds at Ignite Athletics or working on his kicking skills at Saskatoon Minor Football Field or the Indoor Training Centre.

With the Huskies this past season, Solie had an outstanding campaign being named a Canada West Conference all-star and a U Sports second team all-Canadian all-star at place kicker. He helped the Huskies finished first in the Canada West Conference with a 7-1 record and advance to the U Sports championship game – the Vanier Cup.

In the Vanier Cup played on November 26 at Western Alumni Stadium in London, Ont., the Huskies dropped a heartbreaker 30-24 to the always powerful Universite Laval Rouge et Or before 8,420 spectators. Just three days after the Vanier Cup on November 29, Solie signed with the Roughriders.

Naturally, Solie, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 200 pounds, received lots of supportive messages from family and friends and numerous persons he met in football. The 23-year-old was pleasantly surprised by the large number of supportive messages he received from people he met over the years at the Complex.

“The staff there at Gordie Howe are all so friendly,” said Solie. “It is like a mini family there.

“We’ve got the mom Janice Kozun there, and she is always taking care of everybody. You get to meet a lot of new people. I’ve gotten a lot of messages that I’m very grateful for from a lot of people that maybe you don’t always hear from, but you hear from them, and they are grateful for you.

“It is a special place that hits you when there are a lot of congratulatory texts and messages coming in. I’m grateful myself for all those messages. I’m grateful that the ’Riders are able to give me this opportunity to hopefully go make the team and show what I can do.”

Solie received lots of supportive messages from staffers he has worked alongside with at the Complex. He didn’t realize how many people he met at Ignite and from sports teams and groups he has interacted with at the various facilities on the Complex grounds would reach out too.

David Solie is pictured for Bell Let’s Talk social media posts in Jan. 2021.

The graduate of Saskatoon’s Holy Cross High School believes he has heard from coaches, athletes and team staffers from every sporting group that has trained or competed on the Complex grounds. The Complex hosts events and training sessions for baseball, football, lacrosse, Nordic Skiing, rugby, softball, speed skating, track and field and ultimate disk.

Solie said Johnny Marciniuk, who is the Operations Manager of the Gordie Howe Sports Complex, has helped develop a culture at the Complex that is special and the crew at Ignite Athletics and co-owner Joel Lipinski have made a huge positive difference on the lives of the athletes they’ve trained.

“They’ve created an environment that bleeds sports,” said Solie, who was the Canada West all-star and U Sports first team all-Canadian all-star punter in 2021. “Being able to work there, I know Johnny (Marciniuk) has been able to give me those hours that work with my schedule.

“I know he has been able to do it with others as well. I’m just forever grateful for everything that he has been able to allow me to do. If I need time off for training, if I need time off for football or if I need time off even just to go visit, I know Johnny (Marciniuk) has always been really good with that.”

With the Huskies this past season, Solie said the team had big goals after advancing to the Vanier Cup in 2021 and falling to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs 27-21. The Huskies were looking to get back to the Vanier Cup in 2022 and win it.

“We expect that from ourselves,” said Solie. “Obviously, it is not going to happen every single year.

“I think we just had an expectation in our minds that we were going to be back on that stage, and we were hopefully lifting that Vanier Cup. Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short there the last couple of years. It is tough in itself, but I’m super proud of our guys.

“We definitely put our best foot forward. I think (Huskies head) coach (Scott) Flory has just instilled this expect to win mentality with the Huskies there. I think he has something going there that is going to be really great in the years to come.”

David Solie (#2) kicks a field goal for the Hilltops in 2018.

Solie had his share of highlights in the 2022 campaign. On September 17, he hit a 32-yard field goal with two seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to allow the Huskies to slip past the University of Regina Rams 11-10 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

During the Huskies eight regular season games, Solie connected on 17-of-21 field goal attempts with a long from 44 yards and hit on 23-of-24 of his conversion attempts. He punted the ball 58 times for 2,276 yards for an average of 39.2 yards per kick.

In the Canada West title game – the Hardy Cup – played on November 12 at Griffiths Stadium, Solie hit three first half field goals to allow the Huskies to hold a 9-7 halftime lead before jetting out to a 23-8 victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.

In the Uteck Bowl U Sports semifinal game playing in Antigonish, N.S., Solie hit two first half field goals to allow the Huskies to be in a 6-6 tie at halftime before surging to a 36-19 victory over the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men.

“In the Hardy Cup, I don’t know if we played the best game that we played, but we expected to win,” said Solie, who is set to complete his academic studies at the U of S at the end of the school year. “We came out in that second half, and we were able to come out with the win.

“The same thing with the Uteck (Bowl). I don’t think we came out very strong in the first half. I think we only had six points in the first half, and it was tied 6-6 at halftime.

“When it mattered the most, our team was able to find a way to win. That is just what good teams do.”

During his football career, Solie has made many memories at SMF Field playing for the Crusaders football team in high school, Saskatchewan’s provincial team program and helping the Saskatoon Hilltops win a CJFL championship in his one season with the storied club in 2018.

Solie was a place kicker, punter and receiver for the Hilltops when they downed the Langley Rams 58-21 in the CJFL title game – the Canadian Bowl – played at SMF Field on November 18, 2018.

David Solie (#15) kicks a field for the Huskies this past season.

Looking towards preparing for the Roughriders training camp in 2023, Solie expects to be seen frequently at the Complex both training and working. He wants to make a good impression when he tries to crack the roster of the CFL club.

“It is a big motivation aspect,” said Solie. “I know (Roughriders long snapper) Jorgen Hus is working out at Ignite.

“There are a lot of those pro CFL players that work out at Ignite. Just being able to work with those guys, it is an extra motivation that it is something to look forward to.”

Ignite cares, continues to help athletes grow

By Darren Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex

Logan Hofmann trains in the off-season at Ignite Athletics.

The crew at Ignite Athletics have always taken a genuine interest in the lives of the athletes they train, and that characteristic has shown through in a more emphasized way over the past year.

Ignite Athletics was formed when Ignite Athletic Conditioning owned by Joel Lipinski and Jordan Harbidge and JB Performance Training owned by Josh Saulnier merged and located on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds when the Indoor Training Centre opened in March of 2019.

Ignite Athletics aims to be the best training facility in Canada located on the best sports complex grounds in Canada. The crew at Ignite want to help the athletes they train to improve every day, so they can meet their athletic goals.

As a result of the great work the Ignite staff does, they’ve attracted elite athletes from a wide variety of sports along with people who just want to be in better physical shape.

The staff has created a welcoming atmosphere at Ignite helping make the phrase “Ignite Family” a reality.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has gripped the world since March of 2020, the family feeling at Ignite has come more to the forefront. Most of the clients that visit Ignite have seen their lives change in a sizable way.

Over the past year, many athletes have trained for seasons that started and ultimately got cancelled shortly after starting. Athletes have continued to train often not knowing for sure when their next season will start.

Despite those uncertainties, the day’s highlight will often include stopping in at Ignite for a training session. Lipinski said you can see athletes have an extra jump in their step, when they come to Ignite.

“To be able to provide a safe, fun and positive environment during this pandemic, it is something we are very grateful for,” said Lipinski, who is also a strength and conditioning coach at Ignite. “The feedback we have been given by our athletes has been overwhelmingly positive.

Lindsay Berglof is long time regular at Ignite.

“In a lot of circumstances, the trip to our facility is the only regular outing scheduled in their day. The fact that we can keep the athletes on track to reach their health and performance goals does a lot for them mentally as well.”

Lipinski said one of the more pronounced strengths that has shown through from the Ignite staff over the past year is the ability to care. The Ignite crew has always aimed to build friendships with the athletes they train.

Those friendships have given athletes trust that they can let staff know when they not having the best day.

Lipinski said the Ignite crew has had to show more heart and understanding over this past year than they’ve ever had to show before.

“We have seen and personally felt the toll this pandemic has had on mental health,” said Lipinski. “The relationships we have formed with our athletes over the years is a large reason for our success.

“People do not care what you know, unless they know that you care. We provide a space where athletes are allowed be vulnerable, and we can meet them where they are now. We have also teamed with Clint Moroz at The Shift - Counselling Services and are involved with the Matthew Baraniuk Legacy Foundation, so that when our athletes do need extra help, we have the resources in place to make sure they are able get the help they need.”

Besides creating a great training atmosphere for athletes in the high school, young adult and adult age groups, Ignite partnered with the Gordie Howe Sports Complex to create the Spark Park Summer Sport Camps for children.

These camps ran for the first time last summer with children split into age groups from 5 to 8 and 9 to 12. The week-long camps introduced children to a vast array of sporting experiences with a highlight of getting to run the “Ninja Warrior” course set up at the Spark Park located in the Indoor Training Centre.

The Spark Park Summer Sport Camps are returning this summer with weekly sessions running from July 5 to August 20.

“The Spark Park Summer Camps have been a fun addition,” said Lipinski. “The amenities we have available to us at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex make it easy to run an exciting summer camp.

Spark Park Summer Sports Camps return this summer.

“We had great coaches and Taylor McGregor was our Spark Park Manager leading a lot of the organizational requirements. She was instrumental in the success we had last year. It was fun imagining an environment that we would want to be part of ourselves and trying to create that environment.”

Lipinski believes the camps really helped the kids both physically and mentally as they seemed to energetically jump into activities.

“Last summer, kids had not participated in any structured physical education in schools,” said Lipinski. “Therefore, we think that being able to offer these camps was massive to get kids active and socializing after being deprived of those two things for so long.

“I am also sure the parents did not mind and entire week with the kids out of the house, knowing they were somewhere safe.”

Lipinski said the Ignite crew is looking forward to running the Spark Park Summer Sport Camps again, and he credits the community in Saskatchewan for allowing them to happen by doing their part to manage the pandemic.

“The fact we can run these camps again this year means that people across Saskatchewan are being diligent with the protocols set in place by the government,” said Lipinski. “It also means we can continue educating people that these camps exist and how positive they can be for their kids to get involved with.”

While the past year has provided some unique challenges to the Ignite crew, Lipinski said it has been special for Ignite Athletics to operation on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds.

“It sounds cliché, but it is a dream come true,” said Lipinski. “The facility is state-of-the-art while also being surrounded by one of the best sport infrastructures in Canada.

“We have had the privilege of being able to visit some of the top facilities in the world and I remember walking into each one with a sense of awe. I sincerely stop and look around with that same sense of awe everyday now. The merger with JB Performance and Josh has also been amazing.

Danielle Jasper has been a long time family member at Ignite.

“Josh and Jordan were good friends before the merger took place, which made things relatively easy. Josh has brought steadfast leadership, relentless work ethic, constant positivity and has become irreplaceable with everything he does on a day to day basis. I am grateful that somehow fate brought two of the best business partners I could ask for into my life.”

For more information about Ignite Athletics or to register for the Spark Park Summer Sport Camps, feel free to check out Ignite’s website at igniteathletics.com. All photos for this post are courtesy of Ignite Athletics.