Even without the benefit of games in their Grade 12 seasons across all sports, the high school athletes in the Class of 2021 continue to sign on with university teams. That includes three members of the Mount Douglas Secondary Rams football squad. Not that the situation was ideal, of course. Far from it.
鈥淚t was upsetting, especially at first, to realize you would not be having a Grade 12 season because that is your final one and it鈥檚 traditionally an emotional time for most players,鈥� said Rams middle-linebacker Cole Bunting, heading to Simon Fraser University of NCAA Div. 2.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely sad.鈥�
But that鈥檚 the way it is. Most of the high school Class of 2021 has sent out video from their Grade 11 seasons. But spring-sport athletes have had their entire high school careers, including Grades 11 and 12, wiped out. Football is a fall sport so those players at least got in their Grade 11 seasons in 2019 before the pandemic hit in March of 2020.
鈥淚鈥檓 fortunate in that I made varsity in Grade 10 so was able to send out video of two seasons,鈥� said Bunting, who won the sa国际传媒 championship with the Rams in Grade 10 and made the provincial quarter-finals in Grade 11.
Bunting鈥檚 Mount Douglas teammates Jackson Reid and Linden Williams are heading to play U Sports football for the Queen鈥檚 Golden Gaels and the University of Ottawa Gee Gees, respectively. Six-foot-five Reid can pretty much do it all as running back, receiver and place kicker. Williams also has versatility, on both sides of the ball, as wide receiver and safety.
Geared more to NCAA recruitment, sa国际传媒 is the only Canadian province in which high school football is played under American four-down rules with the smaller field. Reid and Williams will have to adjust in U Sports to the three-down Canadian game on the larger field, while Bunting feels he will have a smooth transition to four-down NCAA football at SFU.
鈥淭hat was a big decider for me,鈥� said Bunting, who came out of the Saanich Wolverines and Victoria Renegades youth programs.
鈥淭o be able to play American football in sa国际传媒 at SFU is a huge bonus. I like the American rules better than the Canadian rules. They are two totally different games.鈥�
Six-foot-one and 215-pound Bunting is an aggressive and agile linebacker who can quickly plug holes.
鈥淪FU said they liked my old-school style and attitude,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 plan to take football as far as it will take me. Pro football is my goal.鈥�
HIGH SCHOOL NOTES: Royal Bay Secondary Ravens soccer player Laurianne Chiasson, a striker and winger out of the Juan de Fuca youth program, has committed to NCAA Div. 1 Providence.
The high school girls鈥� soccer season is held in the spring, so both 2020 and 2021 were cancelled. But that didn鈥檛 stop Chiasson from realizing her ambitions of post-secondary soccer while studying in the Buller School of Business at Providence.
鈥淭he best way to success is going through failures first so if we have bad days we just need to do it better in practices or games the next time,鈥� said Chiasson, in a statement, upon signing her letter of intent to play for the Pilots.
鈥淧rovidence will provide just that and be a lot of fun. I am very excited about joining Providence鈥檚 soccer team and to be able to make new connections with people. I will always say we win as a team, we lose as a team, we draw as a team and we have fun as a team. So if we are enjoying our team and time, then we are being successful.鈥�
