Sylvan Lake residents will have the unique opportunity of watching three local football players in action live online at www.vbnsports.com May 23.
Ethan Galliford, 11, Brett Zenert, 15, and Jacob Weller, 14, will travel to Kamloops, B.C., to represent Alberta in the ABC Border Bowl, an annual event in which top minor football players from British Columbia and Alberta play against each other. Recruiters from university teams all across Canada have been known to attend in previous years.
The games will start with the Young Stars playing at noon, followed by the Future Stars at 2:15 p.m.
All three Sylvan Lake players are excited about going to play for the elite teams and have high expectations for what they want to accomplish and learn.
Galliford said the event marks one step closer to his dream of playing professionally.
He said he is looking forward to being a part of the Young Stars team and plans to give his team everything he has.
“I'm going to play hard and try and be a good leader,” Galliford said. “I want to learn more skills so I can improve in football and get somewhere.”
Zenert said it feels awesome to have the opportunity to take part in the event. He expects playing for the elite team will be “a lot of fun.”
Zenert describes himself as athletic and said he hopes to develop his game skills by playing with the team. He also hopes to be noticed by the scouts who will be looking to recruit players.
“I want to get more out of football,” Zenert said. “I want to go further in football, be noticed and not just in Alberta.”
Weller is excited to be playing with a different team and in a bigger game. He said playing with a new team will help him learn many new skills and different playing techniques.
“It's such a good team and there's so many different skills that each player has,” Weller said. “Being one of the youngest kids on the team, I look up to the older kids and try and take what they do and put it into my own move.”