After a couple years of growth a former Knights receiver is speeding off to the West Coast.
Holy Trinity Academy 2018 graduate Julian Jenkins is trading Green and Black for Blue and Gold on the gridiron following a couple of seasons of development as one of the latest recruits to the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds football program.
“For me personally, I’m not the biggest, strongest fastest guy out there so me having those years to progress with my size, my strength I feel will give me a really big advantage over some of the players coming straight out of high school,” said Jenkins. “And especially with knowledge of the game and getting into the playbook I think having those more years to develop are huge and very beneficial for me.”
Jenkins received strong words of encouragement on Thunderbirds football from former Knights teammate Cameron Fietz, who played for UBC under head coach Blake Nill two years ago.
“And I’ve been interested in moving out to the West Coast for a while, right out of high school, even without football or anything like that,” Jenkins said. “Then I decided to focus on my football career and at the end of the football season this year I contacted coach Blake Nill seeing if there was any opportunity there.
“We started talking back and forth and there was a good connection there and it seemed like a really good fit both academically and athletically.”
Jenkins plans to pursue a career in sports management and will major in economics and minor in business when school gets underway.
“It just seemed like a no-brainer for me,” he said. “It’s an amazing school academically and the football program and coaching staff out there is very good.”
His first year out of high school saw Jenkins suit up for the Calgary Colts junior team.
The 19-year-old then spent the first semester of the 2019-20 season in the Maritimes, playing for Dalhousie University’s Tigers football team in the Atlantic Football League.
“I hadn’t really travelled out east a lot and it was so nice to go out there and play some ball, meet some new guys and it was an experience I couldn’t have imagined anywhere else,” Jenkins said. “It was fairly comparable to like a junior football league, like the Calgary Colts, and the players were fantastic and the coaching I really thought was top-notch.”
Jenkins plays primarily as a receiver and saw action with the Tigers as both a kicker and punter on special teams duty. He developed a strong kicking leg from his years playing high-level soccer.
“I played seven, eight years of competitive soccer in Calgary so I definitely thought that’s where I got my baseline, at least at the beginning of my kicking career,” he said.
He’s hoping to use that versatility to gain playing time in his first year in Thunderbird colours.
“It’s nice for a player to be able to get on the field as much as possible,” Jenkins said. “Of course, the more positions you can play the better.”
He has a proven track record of doing just that.
In his senior year with the Knights, Jenkins was thrust into the quarterback position after an early-season injury to teammate Adam Dielissen.
“That wasn’t initially my plan to play quarterback, but it ended up being where the cards fell and I just had to make the most out of that opportunity,” he said. “Being quarterback, although it wasn’t what I was planning on doing it really taught me a lot about the game. You look at everything as a quarterback rather than as a receiver you focus more on your responsibility.”
He took the position switch in stride, becoming the Knights’ MVP and Offensive MVP in a strong 2017 campaign which saw the team finish with a 5-1 record.
Jenkins credited his Knights coaches, including his dad Rob and the likes of Matt Hassett, Kevin Crawford and Lorne Dielissen, for aiding in his development.
“My entire experience with the Knights was really great,” he said. “All of those coaches really kind of shaped the football player I am today. Going into Grade 10, I had about one year of playing football and from Grade 10 on I was just trying to build and progressively get better and growing on all of my skills and all of those coaches and my dad played a huge part in it.
“(My dad) kind of set an example for what it takes, the effort and the sacrifices and all of that.’”
Going forward, Jenkins knows he will have to show well in camp to earn playing time, particularly at the receiver position where there are a number of veterans.
“(Nill) said as I grow with the team and learn the playbook I will be more likely to get an opportunity at receiver,” Jenkins said. “As for kicking, there might be an opportunity for me to do a little bit of punting at the beginning.
“I’m just looking to go in there and compete and give it my all and prove that I deserve a spot and that I’m ready to play.”
