Kyle Moortgat is a dynamic team player. He has to be, to adapt to competition at the next level.
The Cochrane High School Cobras 2014 grad earned a two-sport scholarship (football/basketball) at the University of Regina, where he’s red-shirting (auditing, not playing) in his freshman football season. He’s already made a monumental decision early in his Canada West University Athletic Association (CWUAA) career.
“I’m not playing basketball,” Moortgat states. “I wanted to focus on football. I couldn’t do that while trying to play basketball as well.”
The admission came as a surprise because Moortgat was a key shooting forward in his senior season at Cochrane High, excelling on the floor for Cobras. As the Cobras’ go-to receiver in football, quarterback Cody Stevens targeted Moortgat routinely for big-play catches and scores.
He’s made his choice, and it’s all about the football, where he joins fellow Cochrane Cobras alum Bryce McKinnon (Class of ’13 lineman) with Rams. Starting next season, Moortgat has five years of CWUAA playing eligibility left.
Such are the decisions dynamic players like Moortgat make to excel at the next level.
His Regina Rams were in Calgary Nov. 8 tackling the No. 2-ranked University of Calgary Dinos in CWUAA playoff action, won 56-0 by Dinos at McMahon Stadium. Moortgat was also spotted on the sidelines of Cochrane High’s Nov. 8 Alberta South Zone Tier 3 football semifinal against Medicine Hat’s Crescent Heights Vikings, watching his alma mater win 56-3.
“It’s going really well. It’s a lot different than high school,” Moortgat says of university football. “It’s a lot faster, more physical and everything. Everybody’s there for the right reason. Everybody’s there to play football. In my first year I’ve learned a lot. It’s going great.”
There was a period of adjustment. But it wasn’t anything the first-year education student wasn’t ready to tackle.
“Everything is different. You have your own locker. The whole locker room is huge. They have posters of each player,” he relays. “Your own equipment, you get jackets and everything. The whole experience is amazing.”
With his redshirt freshman year over, he’s already setting goals for next season in Regina.
“My next year, we’re losing a couple of wide receivers so I have a good chance of hopefully starting,” Moortgat speculates. “I want to make sure I’m dressing for sure. I’ll either be on special teams, but I want to fight for a starting position.”
You have to like his chances.
