BONNYVILLE – There's been a change of plans for a local athlete who originally signed to play football at the University of Alberta.
Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) Grade 12 student John Neumann has officially signed with the Edmonton Huskies, a team in the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).
The CJFL is a national semi-professional football league that consists of 18 teams across the country and compete annually for the Canadian Bowl.
This wasn’t always Neumann’s plan, which was to play at the University of Alberta. He decided against it when he wasn’t accepted into the post-secondary program he wanted.
“When I got accepted into university, I applied to two things; kinesiology and, I just threw my hat into history,” he told Lakeland This Week. “I got accepted into the history course but not the kinesiology course. I’m like ‘five years coming out of there with thousands of dollars in debt and a degree I might not get a job in for something just to play football?’”
He decided instead to go to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) to get his Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) training to play for the Edmonton Huskies.
Although this wasn’t Neumann’s initial plan when it came to pursuing post-secondary education, he now hopes to eventually work for a fire hall as most of these positions require “some sort of medical training.”
He’s already covered with firefighting experience. Neumann is a volunteer firefighter in Ardmore and has completed his first level of basic training.
Neumann was originally approached by the team when he was in Grade 10. He participated in a half time punting competition and turned some heads with the coaching staff. Special teams coach Neil MacLean invited Neumann to their winter workouts, which he attended for two years.
When he decided to pursue a post-secondary education in Edmonton, he reached out to the Huskies and expressed an interest in playing for them. Neumann was then signed with the team on June 1.
The prospect of playing for the Huskies is one that Neumann is excited for, but he’s also nervous.
“I’m a small-town kid going into a big city,” he noted. “I’ll no longer be a big fish in a little pond. I’m moving on to a bigger pond.”
Before donning the jersey of the Bonnyville Renegades, Neumann was in karate for six years. He decided to sign up for the local peewee team the first year it was established. He spent his entire amateur football career in Bonnyville, and attended some tryouts for teams across the province in that time.
Although he was disappointed the COVID-19 pandemic prevented him from having a final season as a Bonnyville Voyageur, he wasn’t surprised they weren’t able to hit the field.
“I could see it coming from the beginning of the year,” he noted. “When we didn’t go play any jamborees in the spring, I was like ‘okay, I can kind of see this happening now.’ It didn’t become a shock to me for my senior year. It’s still sad, but I went to a couple of camps before that and in the spring. I did get some football.”
Spring camp for the Huskies started at the beginning of July, which is when Neumann plans on moving to Edmonton.
Robynne Henry, Bonnyville Nouvelle
