Marauders recognized for football talent

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This article was published 09/12/2019 (2268 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Maples Collegiate had strong representation at the Winnipeg High School Football League Awards banquet on Nov. 28.

Two Grade 12 students, Tevonne Albert and Adamo Urciuoli, were recognized for their exceptional performance as football athletes in the league’s Currie Division.

Albert accepted the Kas Vidruk Lineman Trophy, an award his brother also received in his Grade 12 year.

The recipient is typically someone who demonstrates a “high standard in playing ability, school citizenship, fair play, and scholastic standing,” according to the WHSFL website.

“I just remember in that moment my heart beating fast and me zoning out everything. The only thing I could hear was the person speaking and when he said Maples and he said my name it was a relief,” Albert said. “I almost cried walking up there on the stage because it was so emotional to finally have the same award that my brother won.”

Albert has been with the Maples Marauders for four seasons after putting on football equipment for the first time in Grade 9. This fall, he led the Currie division with four sacks, made 37 total tackles, forced one fumble and recovered another.

“Every single year I’ve improved on and off the field, physically and mentally in the game,” he said. “I talked to (my brother) about what he did in his tenure here to achieve that award and I just followed his steps. I worked out after school, getting myself stronger, better, faster until I could finally achieve my goal of getting this award.”

Urciuoli, meanwhile, was named the Currie Division’s defensive player of the year. This past season he made 44 tackles and two interceptions and was recognized twice as the league’s player of the week.

He also represented Maples Collegiate at the Nissan Kick Off Project in Calgary on Nov. 24 during Grey Cup weekend. The Nissan All-Canadian TITAN team is comprised of 70 high school football athletes from 49 communities and nine provinces across the country.

“I saw that they were starting to present the player of the year awards and my heart started beating a little bit, and when they called my name for the award it felt so good to know that all those workouts, everything over the off-season and over the years finally paid off,” Urciuoli said.

Like Albert, Urciuoli was inspired to join the Marauders in Grade 9 because of his brother’s participation on the team.

“He was always a good player and a good athlete so I just wanted to fill those shoes,” he said.

Recipients of the awards were nominated and voted for by coaches in the division.

“A lot of coaches know these two guys because of all the hard work they put in,” said Marauders coach Peter Serrette.

“(Albert) is pretty mature and he’s a smart player so that’s probably one of his biggest assets…. (Urciuoli’s) biggest asset as a football player is probably his toughness, his grittiness. He likes the contact which helps and he’s a smart football player as well.”

The Marauders finished the regular season with a 5-1 record. They lost 28-22 in the division semifinal against the Fort Frances Muskies, who ultimately lost to the Churchill Bulldogs in the final.

“Unfortunately we didn’t have the (result) we wanted but I feel like we’ve evolved closer as a family through this season,” Albert said.