Grady Malo

Twelve kids, a nine-a-side team, and a provincial championship the year after.

Grady’s favourite football memory is not one of his four MVP awards. It is a peewee season. His team had twelve kids for a nine-a-side roster one year, which is barely a team at all. The next year that same group won a provincial championship.

“A lot of the players from that team are my current teammates and friends.”

That is the thread running through his whole answer. Humble, hard-working, resilient, a dream of playing U SPORTS at his hometown school, and a memory about the people rather than the trophy. He heads into his senior year with his second RAW Offensive MVP on the shelf.

“It means a lot knowing that I put in all the work throughout the week of camp, especially with all the very talented players I competed and played with.”

Grady Malo

Teegan Popik

Age and position are other people’s problems.

City semifinals last year, against the rivals. Teegan took one 60 yards for the last touchdown of the game. He was a sophomore and already an All-Conference receiver, which is the sort of thing that builds the kind of confidence he brought to Edmonton.

He won Best Wide Receiver of the high school group here, and his answer about what that means is the most direct statement any athlete gave all summer.

“It means more than anything knowing that I can dominate against anyone, no matter their age or position. Great things come to those who work hard and never give up.”

Teegan Popik

Zeke Kowalchuk

Restless, consistent, violent.

Nine athletes picked three words for themselves. Zeke is the only one who picked violent, and for a running back that is not bravado, it is a job description. The other two, restless and consistent, are the ones that explain two straight Offensive Player of the Year awards at Bantam.

Then you ask him for his favourite memory and the edge disappears entirely.

“Right now it’s the brotherhood I’ve made with teammates, but I have many more memories to come.”

“It gives me pride that my abilities got me seen as the best running back there, but it also forces me to remember that I need to keep improving and getting better.”

Zeke Kowalchuk

Brennan Atkinson

Four touchdowns in his first ever game. Now he blocks for a living.

Brennan’s first tackle football game was a jamboree where he played center, receiver and running back, and scored four touchdowns. He is an offensive lineman now, which is what happens when a kid who can do everything gets asked to do the hardest thing.

“Looking back, that game stands out because it was the beginning of a journey that has taken me much further than I could have imagined.”

Read the hardware row above and you will see how much further. Team Alberta twice, at two different positions on the line. Lineman of the Year at three separate levels. And he took this award as a Grade 10 player, in the high school group, against athletes with years on him.

The goal is college football at the highest level he can reach, and he is specific about why: he wants to prove a player from Alberta can do it.

“It recognizes the hard work and development I have put into becoming a better offensive lineman.”

Brennan Atkinson

Liam Turnell

Back-to-back RAW hardware, and three honour student awards.

DB MVP last year. Defensive MVP this year. Liam is the only athlete in Edmonton who has now won at two different levels of the same award, and he did it by moving up rather than repeating.

Competitive, coachable, patient is an unusual trio, because patient is not a word most seventeen-year-olds volunteer. Three honour student awards suggest it is not just a football trait. And when asked for his favourite memories, he did not name a play. He named his teammates.

“I put a lot of work into football, and being recognized for it motivates me to keep pushing myself. I’m grateful for the coaches who helped me throughout the camp, and I want to keep improving from here.”

Liam Turnell