A home win in Edmonton, a revamped University of Alberta logo, and 8 provinces fighting for the Canadian Football prize known as the U18 Football Canada Cup. You're probably reading this and wondering "What the heck is this and why haven't I heard about it?"
Every year at this time of year, Football Canada puts on a showcase for U18 football players known as the Canada Cup. This tournament showcases many high-school players that are trying to earn scholarships and looks from college scouts. We'll give you our story from the sidelines of The Best Kept Secret in Canada's Football World.
CANADA CUP KICKOFF PARTY
Katherine and I were invited to the 2023 Football Canada Cup Kickoff Party at California Pizza and when we attended, we were instantly welcomed by Jim Nahrebski of Football Alberta and his wife J'Lyn Nye of 630 CHED. Over some food and drinks, Katherine and I planned out how we were going to execute a full media program for a short-term event, something that we haven't done as freelance media. We ate some pizza, sipped on beverages and talked with some prominent members in attendance, such as Tim Enger, Chair for the Canada Cup and Executive Director of Football Alberta. Sitting amongst the likes of Chris Scheetz and Bryan Hall was a very surreal moment for us as somewhat new media members, with Shotgun Sports only covering football from the sidelines with Director of South East USA Ryan Messer in Alabama for the 2023 USFL Season. The gears started to turn and with a live podcast looming around the corner, we said hello to our friend Avry on the way out and zipped back to The Elks Herd HQ to film our podcast, and then designed our media plan further.
THE BIG EVENT
For weeks, Katherine and I had tweeted and spread the word around Edmonton about the Football Canada Cup. We had no idea what to expect and honestly, that seemed to work best for us. On the first day of games, Sunday July 9th, I drove down to Foote Field and found free parking for the Canada Cup Quarter-Finals. From there, I was given my media pass and I immediately inquired about field access. With the green light given and media pass in hand, I quickly made my way up to the Alumni Room where I found Jim and Tim watching the Saskatchewan vs New Brunswick game. After confirming my accesses, I went down to the sidelines to watch and film the game. Saskatchewan had quite a few fans in attendance while New Brunswick had much less. Now, as a new media member, the next 6 hours consisted of making my own plays from the sidelines, in the sense that I wasn't sure where to walk, who to talk to or how to proceed in many scenarios. Luckily the people at Football Alberta and Football Canada were extremely helpful and I was able to find some great areas to catch shots. I treated the Saskatchewan - New Brunswick game like a test run so that we could get great footage of Football Alberta next. After the game, the attendance became much more apparent due to the swarms of people at the many entrances and halls of the Foote Field Stadium. Even without the opposite bleachers being filled, the crowd was still somewhat big for the venue.
Saskatchewan defeated New Brunswick 39-0 and with the test footage being a success, I set up camp by the Team Alberta entrance to see if I could catch some great moments of their game against Team Nova Scotia. After introductions and kickoff, the night was filled with walking back and forth between ends to capture footage of an exciting game. Team Alberta staff donned a reworked University of Alberta "A" hat, with blue instead of the classic gold that the U of A Golden Bears staff would wear. Little moments seemed magical in this game, having fellow friends in attendance and many Team Alberta supporters in the stands.
The game would finish with a 35-10 score and Team Alberta and myself were off to the Semi-Finals of the Canada Cup. After a run in with J-Min Pelley of the Edmonton Elks, I went up to the Alumni Room and put my gear away. Equipped with expectations and a proper game plan, I went to bed after 3 hours of editing to finish this round of media.
On Wednesday, July 12th, I scrambled home from work and packed my media gear for another outing. This time, equipped with a tripod, I made it down to Foote Field and parked a distance away. I walked through all of my previous obstacles and knew exactly where to set up. I started filming when Team Alberta started practicing and felt a lot better about the footage we were about to capture. While I thought Team Alberta would fair well in the contest against Team Quebec, my lense would say otherwise.
Team Alberta would fall by a score of 42-10 to slide to the Bronze Medal game. On this night, I ran into Jérémie Dominique of the Edmonton Elks and Quentin Ebertz from Pay It Forward With Football, both welcome sights. Team Quebec would be set to play for the Gold Medal, however mother nature had other plans; Saturday's Canada Cup Finals were canceled due to bad air quality. The big event that everyone had been working and waiting for would be marred by wildfire smoke from Alberta and British Columbia. Football Canada intends to make this game up somehow, however, it is rather disappointing to see such a great event end with a short fizzle.
FOR FANS FROM FANS
The 2023 Football Canada Cup was a great event. It's called the best kept secret in the Football Community for a reason; The Canada Cup is a fantastic display of young and upcoming football players. The amount of supporters from each team is astounding, the event itself is a decorated neutral event as you would find in any other sports cup, and it's a weeks-long celebration of Canadian Football. As sports fans, we ate this up and loved what we experienced.
ON TAP: THE 2024 U20 IFAF WORLD CUP
Football Canada and the IFAF, in conjunction with Football Alberta, will be bringing the Football World Cup to Edmonton Alberta next June and July. Teams such as USA, Mexico, Canada, Asia and more will be flying to Edmonton to battle in an International Tournament that Edmonton has never seen before. The Elks Herd and Shotgun Sports Network are hoping to capture more content from the sidelines, so stay tuned to our socials while the clock ticks down to the next major International Event in the City of Champions!