Jasper is sending its three best football players to Calgary this weekend to compete in the North versus South six-man all star game.
Last month, the players—Martin Kreiner, Morgan Poirier and Jake Delorme—were hand selected by their coach to tryout for the team and each made the cut.
“It’s quite special,” said Kreiner, 18. “Jake’s been playing for a year, Morgan for three years and I’ve been playing for 12.”
“Yeah, it’s quite different for me,” added Delorme, 17, “going from my first year of football to an all star game.”
“We’re pretty honoured,” said Poirier, 16.
April’s tryouts were at the field house in Commonwealth Stadium. The guys said the highlight was meeting some of the Edmonton Eskimos.
“The third practice we were there, two Eskimos players came out and helped us—they took us through a bunch of drills,” said Poirier with a huge grin.
Jasper has had a six-a-side football team since 2012, and last year finished at the top of the western division, winning five out of six of its regular season games.
In the playoffs, the Jasper Glaciers served the Buck Mountain Mustangs a 52–14 defeat in the quarterfinals, but struggled to best the Rimbey Spartans in the semi-finals, losing with a score of 55-24.
In the all star game, Jasper’s players will compete with the best players from 16 teams from across the province. Making up the North squad are players from the west and central divisions, while the South squad is a compilation of players from the east and south divisions.
Delorme, who is used to playing linebacker, was selected to play tightend, the same position as Kreiner, while Poirier fills the role of centre.
The all star game will take place in McMahon Stadium in Calgary—the same field where the Calgary Stampeders play—and there is expected to be scouts there watching the 12-man Senior Bowl, to find the best players to move onto the university level.
That prospect excited all of Jasper’s players, who said they are interested in one day taking their sport to that next level.
To find out how the game went, check out next week’s Fitzhugh.
Nicole Veerman
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