Evan Astolfo
Fourth in the OUA for field goals made, fifth in points, and rapidly collecting accolades in his first year of university, Evan Astolfo has once again been named an athlete of the week. He scored fourteen points and a game-winning field goal with twenty-eight seconds left on the clock to ice a one-point victory for the Warriors. October 5th
Evan Astolfo. Courtesy UW Athletics. Photo Courtney Caird.
A former soccer player, Astolfo joined his school’s football team in the ninth grade.
“[I just wanted] to have fun with my buddies, then [the coaches] asked if anybody could kick. So I went up there and earned myself the starting spot,” he recalls.
He had already decided to attend UW before receiving an offer to play football. A planning major, he was enrolled in classes when the team’s coaches reached out to him for a tour.
“I just followed God’s plan,” he said.
Against York, he recovered the ball for his team in the final seconds of the game with an onside kick. A risky play that most teams don’t opt for, Astolfo made it look easy.
He gives his faith to his teammates when he’s not on the field, crediting his team for playing strongly and putting him in positions where “all I have to do is kick.”
Students and faculty alike recognize Astolfo as he goes from class to practice. The clip of his kick against UofT currently has two million views on Instagram. He still finds time for academics through his meteoric first season, and the football team has his back.
“Our coaches [hold us accountable]. If we have to miss a practice to study, they’ll tell us [to manage our time better] and let us go. They always say ‘school first, football second,’” he says.
Astolfo works hard when on the field as well. He arrives at practice 30 to 45 minutes early to get in extra reps. He avoids overexerting himself, but never shies away when the team does live scrimmages.
Practice makes perfect, and he’s aiming for the top.
When asked what he has planned next, he said, “I want to make the most of my time [at UW]. I want to be in the Hall of Fame. A rookie setting OUA records, that’s not normal, so I want to see how far I can take this. I know I [have more potential]. I plan to do my best and hope God takes me the rest of the way.”
Arthur Kowara
Arthur Kowara. Courtesy UW Athletics. Photo Dan Inglis.
Stepping up to bat for the Warriors and sending them straight to the OUA finals is graduate student and first baseman Arthur Kowara, hailing from Etobicoke.
As team captain, he hit 8-16 with two home runs in the Far West Regionals (FWR), playing a huge role in the Warriors’ dominant 4-0 sweep of the event.
But he’s uninterested in individual recognition, attributing his success to his team.
“There are at least four or five guys who could have won [the athlete of the week award] instead of me. I just got lucky,” he says.
Kowara started playing baseball as a kid, being at the top of his class. He spent the first part of his career at Guelph, where he and the Gryphons reached the finals of the Canadian University National Championship last year.
He transferred to UW to pursue his studies, citing the university’s innovative academic resources as a primary factor.
In last week’s FWR, he recalls the final game against the Western Mustangs as a learning experience for his team.
“We were down at the start of the game, like 0-4. We [rallied together] and ended up winning 17-6. It showed us that when we play as a team, we can really do anything and overcome any deficit,” he says.
Going into his first OUA finals against UW’s longtime baseball rival, the Toronto Varsity Blues, he’s unafraid of the competition.
The Blues have beaten Waterloo two years in a row to take the gold for Toronto. Now matched up in a semi-final on Oct. 10, Kowara says, “This is just another game. We won’t put them on a pedestal or play nervously.”
The Warriors play against the Blues on Friday and will either play in the bronze medal game or the championship game on Saturday, depending on the result. The game will be hosted at Bechtel Park in Waterloo.
