Community links lead Leos to local nuggets
By Kent Gilchrist,
Vancouver Province
That the B.C. Lions lead the CFL in mining the junior football ranks for undiscovered gems shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise when you find out the connections the brass has to the generally ignored talent source.
President and CEO Bob Ackles, for instance, played for the Vancouver Blue Bombers under Lorne Cullen in the late 1950s. Coach and general manager Wally Buono played junior football before heading to IdahoState from his Montreal home.
And director of player personnel Neil McEvoy played for the Surrey Big Kahuna Rams before joining the Lions 12 years ago as a 20-year-old.
Besides those three, former players such as running back Cory Philpot (Vancouver Trojans), receiver Jay Christensen (Okanagan Sun), defensive lineman Doug Hocking (Vancouver Island Raiders from Nanaimo) are head coaches in the B.C. Junior Football Division. Hocking just coached his Nanaimo-based team to its second straight championship 33-27 over the visiting Sun.
The emergence of speedy receiver Josh Boden, who swept most of the BCFC awards as a 2005 rookie when a member of the Rams, has helped to illuminate the dark corner junior football occupies and expose the talent playing there. That Boden spent all of last season on the Lions’ practice roster honing his skills doesn’t alter the fact of where he was uncovered. He replaced import Tony Simmons as a starter and caught three passes for 83 against Calgary on Sept. 29.
In fact, the Lions also have Winnipeg offensive lineman Lorne Plante, who played four years at Nanaimo, punter/kicker Paul McCallum was a junior grad and his possible successor Sean Whyte has just signed with the Lions . Receiver Ben Wilson is the new Josh Boden — the 2006 BCFC most valuable player has been practising with the club most of the season.
The Lions have, of course, invested heavily in improving the relationship between the CFL team and community football programs. Football is flourishing partly because of the care and attention, which includes the Orange Helmet awards banquet that Ackles instituted several years ago. There are eight teams in the B.C. Junior Conference and high school football is also growing.
“When a guy like Jay Christensen calls and says he’s got a player that he thinks has a chance to make it, you tend to believe him because he’s been through it and knows what it takes to make it,” said McEvoy. “We’ve got lots of good contacts with the junior teams in B.C. because of our association with the various teams, not just Surrey.
“And those guys [former CFL players now coaching] are pretty honest. It’s good to have Josh as a measurement. If the junior player isn’t as good as him, it’s likely he’s not going to be able to play.”
Slotback Rob Cote played for Victoria and Calgary before catching on with the Stampeders this season and the Eskimos have linebacker Mike Maurer of Regina and defensive back J.R. Larose from Edmonton , both of the Prairie Junior Conference. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Toronto Argonauts have one player each directly from the junior ranks.
UBC Thunderbirds’ best offensive weapon is running back Chris Ciezki, who played for the Edmonton junior Huskies before being recruited by the T-Birds in 2003.
“Half the UBC roster is likely junior players who went to college and played junior to get their grades up,” said McEvoy.
Whether the intent of tending the community football garden by Ackles and the Lions was to harvest talent to play professionally or simply cultivate future season ticket holders doesn’t matter. The facts are that both have been successful.
