Eleven members of the Foothills Eagles have earned their way to a provincial football showcase.
Running backs Seth Poelzer, Jack Bjorge, offensive linemen Hayden Hampton, Bowen Gottselig, Matthew Callahan, wide receiver Ethan Maroni, defensive back Emerson Liepert, defensive lineman Ben Haden and linebacker Avery Laliberte were named to the Bantam Showcase Colts team.
The Bantam Showcase Dinos team has Eagles defensive backs Ashton Power, Thomas Rowan and linebacker Toryn Howard.
The Colts will also feature Eagles coaches Tim Henderson as head coach, Dan Mayhew as offensive co-ordinator and Kim Hampton as offensive line coach.
“Football Alberta has six zones in Alberta and Calgary has two so we had tryouts about six weeks ago with about 130 kids,” Henderson said. “The two coaching staffs, we go through the camp and then draft two teams.”
Foothills had a wildly successful 2021 season with the Eagles finishing the Calgary Bantam Football Association regular season undefeated followed up by a Tier II city championship.
“Hard work pays off the following year,” the coach added.
The Bantam Showcase game, one of the three on the weekend, will be held on May 23 in Red Deer.
After the Showcase, Football Alberta brass will pick the top players to its final selection camp for the Team Alberta U16 program with somewhere from 40-60 finalists expected to be picked.
From there, the top 40 will be selected to the Football Alberta U16 team for the Football Canada U16 Challenge from July 1-7 in Langley, B.C.
“Because of their age group this is their first opportunity to play for Football Alberta at the Bantam level,” Henderson added. “And once they’re in, they’re on Football Alberta’s radar for high school.”
Closer to home, the Bantam Eagles will also be holding their spring evaluation camp from May 24-26 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Academy.
The evaluation is open to those aged 13-15, except for those starting Grade 10 in the fall.
“This is to see what interest we have in the Foothills and helps us evaluate that interest,” Henderson said. “And see what we have moving forward and how much recruiting we have to do.
“This year we have a lot of interest, but we still want to get our name out there and get to as many names as we can.”
For more information visit gofa.ca/teams/bantam.
