Elite football prospects at summer camp

By Lorenzo Gavilan Vargas Times Reporter

Football Alberta hosted their Summer Series on July 18 at Great Chief Park in Red Deer, which featured over 300 athletes from around the province – among them were six Strathmore locals, looking to showcase their skills. 

Due to the lack of other competitions, including the Football Canada Cup, Pacific Challenge, and Alberta Summer Games, the Summer Series was the only provincial competition for elite Albertan players.

Players were split up into 10 different teams based on age, and five games were played on the day of the Series. 

Of the 300 athletes, six were from Strathmore. Bodey Pettifer is a receiver from the U16 Calgary Metro Dinos. 

Three local teammates from the U18 South team also played in the series, offensive lineman Bennett Salmon, defensive back Kaden Warren, and offensive lineman Kaden Warren, represented Strathmore. 

Brady Johansen played on the U17 South as a defensive lineman, and finally Jordan Southern played on the U16 Calgary Metro Colts as a linebacker. 

“It was fun, a great learning experience, great to get out there and get with a lot of like-minded people, good football players, and just get better,” said Southern, reflecting on the series.

Southern’s team, the Calgary Metro Colts, fell to the Edmonton North Golden Bears 26-13 in their only game of the series. Despite the result, Southern felt good about the game.

“We went out there, my team didn’t get the exact result we wanted, but I did good, my friends did good,” he said. “We had fun.”

Southern says his future football plans include aiming to play Division 1 college football in the United States, or playing college football in Calgary or Edmonton.