Former Concordia Stingers football player Sam Clemente
As Concordia student Sam Clemente says, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to playing for a university-level team.
Majoring in actuarial mathematics at Concordia’s Faculty of Arts and Science, Clemente discusses his time pulling
double duty: student by day and previously a running back for the Stingers football team by night.
How important was the Irshad Family Entrance Bursary in Actuarial Mathematics for you?
Sam Clemente: “Finding time after I started at Concordia in 2014 was a real struggle. I was in classes or studying most of the day, and then off to a two- or three-hour practice after that.”
Added to the heavy weekday schedule, Clemente says that Stingers games against rival football teams often took place on weekends.
“Without a bursary, I would’ve needed a part-time job. With my schedule being packed, that wasn’t possible.”
Why Concordia football?
SC: “While looking for an academic program, I was considering options with compelling football teams. Concordia offers that.”
Clemente says that football motivated him academically: “It gave me a time at the end of each day to step away from the classroom and from studying — it added balance.”
Before entering Concordia, Clemente’s passion for football showed itself when he was a volunteer coach for l’Équipe Métropolitaine Scolaire and at Collège Notre-Dame, both in Montreal, in 2013.
After a two-year run with the Stingers, Clemente hung up his cleats in 2015. He suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in 2013 and never fully recovered.
Now, Clemente takes advantage of a different opportunity offered by Concordia: the university’s Institute for Co-operative Education — which combines study with real-world work terms.
What does the co-op program mean to you?
SC: “It’s about experience and getting a foot in the door. I think that once I graduate, opportunities will open up for me because of this program.”
Clemente is an intern at Morneau Shepell, a human resources solutions company with a Montreal office.
“It aligns perfectly with what I’m studying,” says Clemente of his placement.
Clemente hopes to wrap up his studies at Concordia in 2017 and begin full-time work as an actuary.
