Edwin Parr Composite (EPC) High School football player Gaetano Minto has been awarded Most Valuable Offensive Player for the Wheatland Football League tier two division for the 2013 season.
“A lot of hard work has been put into the season and off-season,” Minto said. “Where it really counts is the coaching. Nothing could happen without the coaching.”
Minto looks up to head coach Pete Burden and said he does a phenomenal amount of work on the field to make the team better, and it has paid off.
The team won the tier two championship and remained undefeated throughout the season, save for the Consolation Cup (a post-championship game during which they played a tier one team).
“We started as young men and have grown through five years with him, and I can say he has been there every step of the way,” Minto said. “All this goes towards him.”
When Burden handed him the award at EPC on Dec. 10, Minto exclaimed, “I’m speechless.”
Burden said the award was well deserved.
“Over the five years he has played for me, every year he has improved,” Burden explained. “He ran our offence all year long, whether we wanted to run the ball or pass it.”
All the coaches in the league vote for who they think should receive the award.
“It is not just me; it’s voted on by all the coaches in the league,” Burden said. “Offensively we have been able to win MVP quite a bit.”
In the last 12 years, the team has won MVP for its offensive line four times.
“I do spend a little more time on the offensive side of the ball,” Burden said. “That is where my specialty is. It is nice when you do all that work and it comes back to you.”
Minto, who will graduate this spring, plans to carry on playing football.
“My plans are to play anywhere,” he said. “I don’t care about the level, but will hopefully play with the Huskies junior football (team) in Edmonton.”
He also wanted to thank his family and coaching staff.
“They are the best coaches in the league. I couldn’t ask for more, and the team couldn’t,” he said about Burden and assistant coach Terry Smith.
