Athabasca’s Gaetano Minto is a multi-sport athlete with talent (and confidence) to spare.
A valued member of both the basketball and football teams at Edwin Parr Composite, the Grade 11 student tends to excel at whatever sport he tries.
But it’s football that’s number one, and it’s football that will take him to British Columbia later this month as a member of the Alberta Elite Rising Stars.
There he’ll compete with his new teammates against a similar team comprised of B.C’s best in the “Border Bowl” in Kelowna on May 25.
A team comprised of the very best Grade 10-11 high school football players in the province, the Rising Stars were culled from over 100 students who tried out in Calgary and Edmonton. The odds of grabbing one of the 40 spots on the team weren’t in his favour when Minto trekked to Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium for the tryout last month, but he was determined to leave team officials no choice but to give him a spot.
“I probably had my best tryout (ever),” he said.
An athlete can have all the skill in the world, but if he doesn’t believe in himself, he won’t get very far. Minto has no such troubles, even when competing against the best football players in Alberta.
“I’m naturally confident,” he said.
Minto enjoys the confidence that comes from devoting oneself to a goal and working hard to attain it. Even when it’s not football season, he never stops working, training, thinking about and studying the game. An athlete needs that kind of passion for his sport if he’s going to excel.
“I’d love to play football for the rest of my life,” he said, citing teamwork as one of the biggest reasons why.
“One person can’t win a game. You have to be in sync.”
Often filling the crucial role of quarterback on the EPC team, Minto knows how important it is to trust and rely on his teammates. But true to his passion for the sport, he doesn’t limit himself to one position. He’s tried a lot of the spots on the field, on both sides of the ball, playing wherever he’s needed so he can always be part of the game.
With the Rising Stars, his athleticism earned him a spot as a safety.
“I like playing everything; being more versatile,” he said.
The team has a number of practices in Olds before heading to B.C. for the big game, and Minto also has the Athabasca Pacers spring camp on the go. And when he’s not on the field, he’s studying the Rising Stars playbook and working to give himself every edge in time for the trip.
“I just want to play for the team, and do what I can to get a ‘W’,” he said.
There will be plenty of scouts at the game, all of them looking for standout players. If they don’t know Gaetano Minto at kickoff, he’ll make sure they know him by the end of the game.
