Three Cochrane-area football players have made the final cut for Football Alberta’s under-18-year-old (U18) provincial football team.
Cochrane Lions quarterback Des Catellier of Bearspaw, Lions defensive lineman Justin Sambu of Cochrane and Lions linebacker Dan Teitz of Springbank will all play for Team Alberta at the Football Canada Cup (FCC) U18 championship in Montreal this summer.
They were chosen May 10 from a pool of 130 of Alberta’s top minor football players following Football Alberta’s U18 main selection camp in Calgary. When the selection process began in April, there were 400 players trying out. Forty made the team.
That makes them 1-in-10 in our province.
“It feels pretty good. It’s great talent. Everybody’s working hard,” says Catellier, 17, who plays high school football for Calgary powerhouse St. Francis. The Grade 11 is in his second tour with Team Alberta, last year going as a kicker and backup quarterback. This season he’s going as quarterback first, kicker second. Whether he starts at QB is still to be determined leading up to July’s FCC in Montreal. At the May 10 Team Alberta scrimmage on McMahon Stadium’s FieldTurf surface, the lanky pivot threw a touchdown strike to Bev Facey’s (Sherwood Park) Chuba Hubbard and ran for a touchdown on the two offensive sequences he played. “It’s going to be a good experience to see how we stack up against the rest of the country.”
Sambu, a rush-end with the Lions and provincial Tier 3-champion Cochrane High School Cobras, keeps his edge by remaining on edge throughout the tryout process. That’s not going to change, despite a guaranteed spot on Team Alberta for the 16-year-old Cobras Grade 11.
“You have to be mentally tough,” Sambu said during a break at Lions practice May 11 in Springbank. “Everybody’s good. Now we’re playing different guys I haven’t played before. I can’t really know their tendencies. It’s scary. But I also have to get in the mental form where I can be confident and do well.”
Teitz, a Springbank Community High School Phoenix linebacker when not playing spring-league club ball with Lions, may be considered by some to be a surprise selection for one of six Team Alberta linebacking spots.
As a Grade 10, he jumped the queue to make the show in his first year of eligibility. But those who know his compete level and lineage – older brother Micah was a disruptive force as a rookie linebacker with University of Calgary Dinos last fall – understand the 15-year-old’s selection is no surprise at all.
“Dan Teitz is a fantastic player,” said Lions head coach Jud Graham. “Given his age, I was actually a little surprised. Not surprised that he was that good, but surprised that they saw it in that short tryout.”
Teitz was probably the most surprised.
“I’m still pretty shocked. I’m pretty excited,” Teitz admits. “It’s going to definitely improve my game going against the best in Canada. It’s going to really improve my game.”
Team Alberta practises in June and early July before landing in Montreal for the July 12-20 Football Canada Cup.
Des Catellier, 17, Cochrane Midget Lions St. Francis High, Calgary, Grade 11 6-foot-2, 180-pound quarterback Justin Sambu, 16, Cochrane Midget Lions Cochrane High School Cobras Grade 11 6-foot-2, 240-pound defensive end Daniel Teitz, 15, Cochrane Midget Lions Springbank High Phoenix, Grade 10 6-foot, 195-pound linebacker
