Cameron Valardo, an alum with the St. Mary\u2019s University and Dragons Football program in Fall River, was looking forward to returning to the club after a shortened season in 2019-2020 due to COVID 19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, as it stands right now it doesn\u2019t appear there will be a season this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe relationship between myself and the front office in Toulouse is strong enough that they have extended my contract through 2021-2022 season,\u201d said Valardo. \u201cHopefully, this virus will be handled well enough by early 2021 that I get to be back on the field in France.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spoke about how the opportunity to play in France came about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey contacted me on a website called Euro players after they watched my game film,\u201d he explained. \u201cI vetted them through a connection I have named AJ Tufford who spent a few years coaching over in France and Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith his help I was able to trust the legitimacy of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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He said the team was happy enough with his abilities to re-sign him for a second season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valardo, 23, talked about the level of competition in the league that he got to be part of prior to the COVID19 pandemic hitting the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d said the quarterback. \u201cI haven\u2019t had as much fun with a group of guys since high school football.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said the level of play is good, but you cannot compare it to the CFL. The CFL is the second highest level of football on the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrance and other countries in Europe are legitimate pro football leagues with many former NFL, CFL and NCAA division 1 athletes participating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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What\u2019s it like playing a sport he is so passionate about so far from home. Valardo said it can be daunting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you have to leave all your friends and family it can be a bit scary,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, I just used it as an opportunity to see the world and continue playing a sport I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is already watching anxiously for when he can head back to France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a shame to see my time over there get cut short by the pandemic so I\u2019m counting down the days until I can go back,\u201d said Valardo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Valardo had some advice for other young football players who may want to get over to Europe\/Australia or South America to continue playing sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWith the connections I have built not only in France but all over the world now I\u2019d be more then happy to help anyone try and get to the next level,\u201d he said. \u201cAnyone interested in this kind of opportunity can just message me on Instagram under my name.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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[adrotate banner=”113″] [adrotate banner=”95″] FALL RIVER: If it wasn\u2019t for COVID19, a Fall River quarterback may have already been overseas ready to start his second season of pro football in France with Ours de Toulouse. Cameron Valardo, an alum with the St. Mary\u2019s University and Dragons Football program in Fall River, was looking forward to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19877,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1860,285,2,5],"class_list":["post-19875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-cameron-valardo","tag-dragons-football","tag-fall-river","tag-lockview-high"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}