ONTFL

Touch Football Ontario kicks off its prestigious Trillium Tour this weekend with the Dave Nelson Early Bird in Brampton Ontario.

The ONTFL has three of its best squads competing, Seminoles, Wolfpack, and OFT. We just want to wish them good luck and safe travels.

For all our peers across the Province, have a great tournament, but not too great when you face one of ours 😃

🏈🔥 ONTFL x SportChek = Time to Gear Up for the Season! 🔥🏈

The Ottawa Nepean Touch Football League is SO excited to partner with SportChek to bring exclusive savings to our members this weekend at the Bayshore location! 🙌

Need new cleats? Gloves? Training gear? Workout apparel? Or maybe it’s time for a full season refresh… now’s your chance to stock up and save before summer football kicks off! 💪🏽🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️🏈

🛍️ 30% OFF clothing & footwear
🛍️ 20% OFF sporting goods
📍 SportChek Bayshore (in-store only)
📅 May 21–24

Whether you’re playing Women’s, Coed, Men’s, Youth or just supporting from the sidelines get game ready! 🏈🔥

A huge THANK YOU to Sport Chek BAYSHORE and our ONTFL member Steph Pedneault for supporting our football community and helping our players gear up for another incredible season. We appreciate you so much! ❤️💙

See you on the fields soon… with fresh gear 😎🏈

🏈 WOMEN’S OPEN PRACTICE 🏈

Curious about touch football? Looking to improve your skills, meet new people, stay active, or simply try something new? This is for YOU. 💪🔥

Join some of our Ottawa Nepean Touch Football women’s teams in practice and experience the excitement, community, and competition firsthand! Whether you’re looking to join an existing team or interested in putting in your own team, this is a great opportunity to get introduced to the league, meet players, and see what the ONTFL is all about. 🙌🏈

✨ Learn The Game
✨ Improve Skills
✨ Build Community
✨ All Skills Welcome

Whether you’ve never played before or have years of experience, all skill levels are welcome. Come build confidence, sharpen your game, and become part of an incredible football community. ❤️🏈

📍 Woodroffe High School
🗓 Thursday, May 21st
⏰ 6:30 PM

Join one of Canada’s longest-standing touch football communities as the ONTFL celebrates an incredible 60+ YEARS of football, friendships, competition, and community. 🏆🇨🇦

The ONTFL has been bringing people together through sport since 1963 and continues to grow the women’s game every season.
Come out, give it a try, and see what the excitement is all about! 🔥

🔗 ONTFL.com
🏈 ONTFL | Celebrating 60 Years

Our men’s football season begins the week of June 15th for some, and the week of June 22nd for most.

We play Monday’s through Thursday’s in the west end, playing 7 vs 7 on a full field.

We have competitive and more recreationally focused divisions. If you’re a team, or individual looking to play, we have your needs covered.

To join the fun contact Gordie Laverty via [email protected], or visit ontfl.com

We hope to see you all out there!

Happy Mother’s Day to the real MVPs 💐
The ones cheering the loudest, supporting the longest, and holding it all together.
We see you ❤️

ONTFL | 60 YEARS
WWW.ONTFL.COM
WWW.EDLAVERTYLEGACY.COM

🏈✨ WHERE COMPETITION MEETS COMMUNITY. WHERE YOU BELONG. ✨🏈

The Ottawa Nepean Touch Football League (ONTFL) is calling all women whether you’re a seasoned athlete or stepping onto the field for the very first time.

For over 65 years, we’ve built more than a league… we’ve built a community. And there is a place for you here.

🔥 Women’s Divisions for Different Levels:

• Competitive
• Recreational

✔️ Full Field 7 vs 7
✔️ Register as a Team or Individual
✔️ Welcoming, inclusive environment

No team? We’ll place you.
Have a team? Bring them.
Either way… you’re in.
This is your chance to compete, connect, and be part of something bigger.

☀️ Outdoor Season: Late May - Late August
🔗 Register today:www.ontfl.com

65 years strong and still growing.
Come write your chapter with us. ❤️🏈

**🏈🔥 CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY IS HERE 🔥🏈**
The stage is set. The lights are on. And it all comes down to this…

📍 **Algonquin Dome**
🗓 **April 12th**
⏰ **Games at 6PM & 7PM**

Get ready for an incredible night of ONTFL Finals action:

**Field 1**
🏆 **AA Finals** – Seminoles vs OFT
🏆 **A Finals** – Outsiders vs Lions

**Field 2**
🏆 **D Finals** – Bottoms Up vs Touchdown Titans
🏆 **B Finals** – Dreamboats vs SNL

This is what we play for.
This is what we train for.
This is **ONTFL football at its best.**

Bring the energy. Bring the noise. Let’s pack the dome and celebrate the game we love 🏈❤️

The ONTFL lost 3 legends that we learned about recently. Barry Hughes, Paul “Pappi” Lanthier” and Gord Pinkney. We would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to these icons of our sport.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Barry at the Pinecrest Remembrance Services, 2500 Baseline Road, Ottawa on Saturday, April 11, 2026 from 10:30am to 1:30pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Ruddy-Shenkman Hospice.

Barry Hughes, “The Gunslinger”, as Scott Charboneau fittingly labelled him, lost his battle with cancer two weeks ago.

He is the epitome of a legend. Like his brother Bryan, his son Steven, and niece Christie, Barry was a gifted athlete. Their DNA should be studied, as football has known few families with so much god given talent.

I forgot to include sister Colleen. I was really young during her early 80's exploits, more interested in Star Wars and Christie Brinkley than football at the time. She too was a Canadian and Provincial champion, along with all the MVP accolades. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think a genetic investigation is warranted, the Hughes clan were likely bred in a lab.

Barry is best known as one of the finest quarterbacks to ever grace a touch football field. However, he was also a dynamite receiver/defender. He helped my own father, Ed Laverty, in the backfield as an option thrower/receiver/mentor, when he was coming up as a quarterback.

He was always destined to be a leader in the quarterback position. With his canon for an arm, and hands that never got cold in bad weather, he literally never needed a glove when we used to have Snowbowls in February before Indoor became a thing.

His greatest achievement in our beautiful game was winning the men’s elite Canadian Championship with his famed Sportshoe Dolphins in 1985, the first Ottawa team to earn that coveted prize.

However, he’ll always tell you that his proudest accomplishment in football was getting to play with son Steven. On his Argos teams, he helped nurture him into one of the greatest receivers/two way players the sport has ever known, earning multiple Elite titles with his Hamilton/Ottawa Piranhas. It was no surprise when Steven won his first Canadian Championship, he was also crowned MVP.

In 2012, as the Piranhas were entering the Ontario Provincial Championships, they would be without Jay Hayes, also one of the greatest quarterbacks in touch football history. Barry, well into his 60’s at that point, and only playing recreational ball, was called into elite service to help the Piranhas out.

With a stellar group of athletes to support him, and bringing the unmatched chemistry he and Steven long had, Barry would lead the Piranhas to the AA title, while earning MVP honours. It was a remarkable feat to witness!

With his brother Bryan being my father’s best friend, I grew up around him and Barry a ton. There were always like uncles to me. I always remember the mixed drinks in the hot tubs at tournament hotels. My dad, Bryan and Barry would spend hours in them and the saunas. They were an absolute menace together. I can almost feel the pain in my stomach from laughing so hard.

No one was ever safe from their jovial rips. While Bryan was always a bit more diplomatic, Barry told it like he saw it, no BS. If I, as a QB, had a bad game that day, Bryan would let me down easier. Barry would just tell me that I “s**t the bed”. Of course my dad and Bryan would have to concur, because I did, in fact, s**t the bed. You have to appreciate the candor.

I feel very fortunate to have spent so much time with Barry, getting to know him as man, while being able to experience his gifts on the field, as a spectator and teammate.

You are greatly missed Gunslinger!

Paul “Pappi” Lanthier

We learned a few weeks ago from Cory Chillcott that Pappi passed away two years ago. This was shocking news, as no one in our ONTFL circle had known.

Prior to Covid, Pappi was still playing as a quarterback into his late 70’s. Few ever ever quite knew his exact age. I never looked at his registration birth date, as I liked not knowing to keep myth growing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he was 80 when he played his last game.

Being an elderly person, it was understandable that he kept away from large groups of people during the Covid craze, even as the league opened back up periodically, hence our losing communication.

He ran his beloved Alouettes for over 50 years, astounding, only a pandemic could stop his incredible run.

Every Gen Xer, Millennial, and of course Baby Boomer in our men’s divisions knew who Pappi was, as most of them either played a season on one of his teams, or played against him. I even got to play in a couple of tournaments with him.

Along with my father learning from him as a receiver/defender, I couldn’t count the number of our past talents that learned the fundamentals under his iconic tutelage.

Pappi was a fierce competitor. I’ll always remember him intercepting one of my passes when I was in my late teens as a young QB. He was probably 50 at the time. He took it to the house to score, then ran by me and my bench and said, “put that in your pipe and smoke it”. We were winning by a large margin at that point, with the game out of reach, but he wanted to let us know that it was a blip, and he’d get us in the next one, which he did.

The are countless football junkies in our league, but I don’t think anyone enjoyed/lived the game more than Pappi. Every win was a celebration worthy of a Viking-like victory banquet, and every loss was akin to a funeral.

On and off the field, with his unparalleled longevity, no one could be a bigger contributor to our sport than Pappi. He introduced the game to so many people, many who would go on to create their own teams.

I’m still in shock that he’s gone and didn’t know exactly when it had occurred. You’re missed tremendously Pappi. Your influence is still felt to to this day, the game will always be in debt to you.

Gord Pinkney

Gord passed away in late February. My sister had told me of his passing, though I was in the midst of a delirious flu and forgot that conversation. It wasn’t until I heard about Barry’s passing that I thought of it, and called his daughter Joanne.

Joanne is one of the reasons the league still exists today.

When my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and I took over operations 10 years ago or so, I would have been lost without her guidance. Along with Barry Lauzon , and Sharron and Mike Charron, the league might not have continued.

While Joanne is a great administrator, still helping out Touch Football Ontario, she was also a spitfire on the field as a player. However, she was best known for her great mind for the game, which she got from her dad.

Most coaches of sports were competitors at one point. Gord did play some coed with his daughter, but he was never known as a player.

His mind for the game, however, made him a valuable asset. He was best known for grooming quarterback John Davidson during his Cobras days, one of the purest/deadliest athletes to ever step foot in that position. So many legendary figures were on that squad. From Leo Benvenuti, Dan Berrea, Lance Evraire, Randy Leafloor, Greg Woito, Tom Patrick, to the Carle brothers, the talent on that squad was ridiculous. For those monsters of the game to respect his words, you know he was a special one.

Gord also coached several of Joanne’s teams, the Fury and Roadrunners comes to mind first. The Roadrunners, of course, would launch eventual quarterback Kim Kerr into the stratosphere of touch football mythology. They were one of the middle to lower ranked teams in the Province back in the mid 2000’s when she was placed into the quarterback role near the end of the season.

With Gord and Joanne’s mentoring, and her phenomenal athletic ability, she would go on to shock women’s football, and lead her team to the women’s elite Canadian Championships. She eventually moved on to quarterback the renowned Devils, and helped that squad form one of the greatest dynasties that sport has ever seen.

May you rest in peace Gord.

I’m sure my dad, Barry, Pappi, and Gord are up there running the football scene. My dad’s the administrator, ONTFL Hall of Famers Barry and Pappi are locked in mortal football combat, and Gord is coaching a lucky team, while giving God pointers on how to shape this planet into a better place.

🔥🏈 PLAYOFF ENERGY IS HERE
Ottawa… are you READY?! 💥

The Ottawa Nepean Touch Football League playoffs are officially here and the intensity just went up a level 💯🔥 Semi-finals, finals, and everything on the line — this is what we’ve been building toward all season.

⚡ Speed. 🎯 Ex*****on. ❤️ Heart.
Every rep matters. Every play counts. 🏆

From the first snap to the final whistle ⏱️, expect high-level competition, big moments, and that unmatched ONTFL atmosphere under the lights at the dome 💡🏟️

🔥 Who’s stepping up?
🔥 Who’s leaving it all on the field?
🔥 Who’s taking it all the way?

Let’s pack the dome, bring the energy and celebrate the game we love 🏈

SEE YOU THERE 👊

🏈 ONTFL | 60 Years
🌐 ONTFL.COM

Player 📷 Scott Grant