Feradouros, Orazietti join Canada’s coaching staff for 2016 Worlds

Photo credit: USA Football

Football Canada announce the addition of Spiro Feradouros and Paul Orazietti as the 2016 Junior National Team’s respective defensive backs and running backs coaches. The coaching staff will guide Canada into the 2016 IFAF U19 World Championship, June 28 – July 10 in Harbin, China.

Head coach Warren Craney will continue as Canada’s defensive coordinator for a fourth consecutive IFAF U19 World Championship after serving the role under head coaches Glen Constantin (2009) and Noel Thorpe (2012), before adding the head coach responsibilities heading into 2014.

“Both Spiro and Paul are excellent additions to our Junior National Team,” Canada’s head coach, Warren Craney said. “Their character and experience compliments an established core group of coaches who are preparing to lead our national team program in China.”

“As a staff and team, we now need to come together during training camp as we prepare to represent our nation on the world’s stage and work towards our goal of capturing gold.”

Canada, the defending silver medalist, has met the U.S. in each of the first three IFAF U19 World Championship gold medal games. In 2012, Canada defeated Team USA 23-17 in Austin, Texas.

Canada’s final roster will be announced in the coming weeks, just prior to the team’s June 21 departure for China where they will hold training camp in preparation for the tournament.

The Canadian Junior National Team opens the 2016 worlds on June 30. They will then play on July 3, July 7 and July 9 or 10, depending on game results of the championship’s double-elimination play.

In addition to Canada, the field of seven includes Australia, Austria, China, Japan, Mexico and the U.S.

Canada’s Junior National Team Coaching Staff – 2016 IFAF U19 World Championship

Coaching Biographies

Paul Orazietti is entering his seventh consecutive season with UBC in 2016, after serving as special teams and recruiting coordinator with the 2015 Vanier Cup-champion Thunderbirds. A member of the T-Birds’ 1997 Vanier Cup winning squad, he also coached running backs in 1998 and from 2002-05 during spring camp.

Orazietti returned to his alma mater after a successful stint with the Victoria Rebels of the CJFL where he served as head coach, offensive coordinator and director of football operations from 2005 until the spring of 2010.

A graduate of both Queen’s University (Arts, ‘93) and UBC (Education, ‘97), Orazietti spent six years as the athletic director and P.E. department coordinator at Canmore Collegiate while also assuming the role of head coach and offensive coordinator of the Canmore Wolverines (high school) prior to leading the Rebels. His extensive coaching and scouting resume have also seen him work with Football Alberta, the University of Calgary, NFL World League, as well as a guest coach with the Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions.

Spiro Feradouros is a veteran of tournament-style football after spending the past ten years as an assistant coach with Quebec’s entry at the Football Canada Cup. From 2006-2009, he coached Quebec’s U19 provincial team, returning from 2010-2015 with the province’s U18 squad. During his tenure with Team Quebec, Spiro helped propel La Belle Province to six gold medals (2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015).

A former defensive back with the Concordia Stingers (1991-93), he has worked with a number of teams including Vanier College during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s where, over the years, he served as offensive coordinator, defensive backs coach and receivers coach. In 2002, he began coaching defensive backs at the University of Montreal, inheriting the special teams coordinator duties beginning in 2006. In the spring of 2011, Spiro joined the coaching staff at his alma matter (Concordia), before moving on to Laval as a defensive backs coach for the 2012-2015 seasons.

Feradouros is also well versed in the American game, having served as a defensive line coach at the University North Dakota in 1997. In addition, he’s worked a guest coach at numerous NFL training camps including the St. Louis Rams (2003), Chicago Bears (2005) and Cincinnati Bengals (2003, 2005 and 2006).

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