Alberta’s representatives at the Football Canada Cup will have a distinctly local feel at the July tournament in Lethbridge.
Foothills Composite’s Taylor Armsworthy and Holy Trinity Academy’s Ryder Stone and Jadon Schneider will be suiting up for Team Alberta in the annual under-18 football tournament.
“It’s a big honour for me,” Schneider said. “To be named one of the best in Alberta is a big deal for me.”
Much like his other two counterparts, Schneider was nominated by his high school coaches to attend the initial tryout camp.
After advancing to the final evaluation, all three Okotoks players were named to the 40-player squad for the Football Canada Cup running July 9-15.
Having been named the 2010 Defensive MVP and Co-MVP for the Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) Knights, Schneider had a lot of momentum heading into the tryouts.
Despite the accolades, the Knights outside linebacker knew he would still have to play at an even higher level to make Team Alberta.
“That gave me a lot of confidence before I went into the camp but I also had to realize that these players are the best from their teams too,” he said.
Schneider beat out five other candidates for one of the outside linebacker spots and was pleased his competitiveness shone through at the evaluations.
“I feel that I deserve to be on this team and it was nice to be honoured by the coaches that they feel the same way,” he said.
The intimidating linebacker said he is hoping to improve even more by playing against the country’s best.
Refusing to rest on his laurels after dominating at HTA, Schneider said he would work to improve his quickness and foot speed to make an impact at the Canada Cup.
The Knights linebacker said he is also hoping the experience will make him an even better player in his senior season at HTA.
Schneider’s teammate, Stone, made the team as a running back and is looking forward to carrying the rock for Alberta.
The Knights’ Grade 10 tailback said he was glad to emerge from a camp featuring the best the province has to offer.
“It was some serious competition,” he said.
Coaching the team will be Foothills Eagles bench boss Kelly Stickel.
Stone said he is somewhat familiar with the local coach and is looking forward to having him lead the team at the national tournament.
Team Alberta will be looking to improve on last year’s outcome and Stone is confident they will able to do so.
“Last year they didn’t win a game, I don’t think,” he said. “That’s our first goal.”
From a personal standpoint, the Knights running back said he is anxious to see how his game measures up against Canada’s top football recruits.
“(My goal is) just to try to see how I compete with the rest of Canada,” Stone explained.
For Foothills’ Armsworthy, the selection as one of only two quarterbacks came as welcome news.
“It’s going to be awesome to be able to see the best players in Canada. It’s a great experience for me, at such a young age as well,” he said.
After a breakout season, which included some highlight moments filling in for starter Devan Karl, Armsworthy was glad to see his accuracy and leadership skills shone through at the evaluation.
“They’re looking for the kid who will step up the most and take the leadership position that a quarterback would,” he said.
The Grade 10 student said his rapid improvement at the position could be attributed to a quarterback-receiver camp he has attended for two summers in California.
At the three-day camp Armsworthy was able to improve his footwork and accuracy and it was evident at the Team Alberta evaluations.
“I thought I had a lot more accuracy than they did,” Armsworthy said. “I could see that my throwing had improved a lot.”
The Falcons’ QB is expected to platoon with another quarterback during the week-long exhibition in Lethbridge.
That arrangement is hardly a new phenomenon to Armsworthy.
The Falcons’ hurler is also expected to get some reps in the fall season for Foothills behind Karl — in addition to playing several other key positions.
“They have me playing at slotback right now, taking Kris Stretton’s spot,” Armsworthy said, in addition to kicker and punter.
The Foothills quarterback said he is hoping the Football Canada Cup experience will prepare him not only for the high school season but whatever may come down the road.
“It will allow me to know what colleges are looking for,” he added.
