Andreea Resmerita – Leader Staff
A local Thunderbird, recognized for his attitude both on and off the field, will be heading to Calgary during the CFL Grey Cup with 69 other young Canadian athletes to get a one-of-a-kind coaching and mentoring experience from some of the greats in football.
The Nissan Kickoff Project announced the list of the first 10 high school football players to join the 2019 All-Canadian Titan team, among them local senior and Thunderbird Jared Hess. Hess, along with the rest of the Titan team, will be heading to Calgary during the Grey Cup festivities for a week of mentoring, coaching, and playing football, with an exhibition game set for Nov. 23, the day before the Grey Cup final.
In Hess’ nomination papers, Thunderbirds coach Jon Kramer wrote that “Jared has been a quiet, but confident leader for our program … He is always cool and composed during competition. He is quick to reload from any mistakes and is the perfect role model for our young team this season.”
“For my Grade 11 year, we had a pretty good team, we made it pretty far in the playoffs, I think we got to the quarter-finals,” said Hess, a young man of few words who focused a lot more on his team than himself.
Hess displayed a similar attention to his teammates when talk came of his expectations going into his senior year. The focus was on ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ — the team took precedence to the individual.
In 2018, Hess was Most Improved Player of the year with the Thunderbirds. In the previous season, which would have been his first, Hess broke his foot in the first pre-season game. Despite the injury, he continued to attend practice and learn from the sidelines, which positioned him well for his Grade 11 success on the field.
“He made the most of a bad situation, which is a lot of what youth sport is about, teaching resiliency and commitment and leadership,” said Kramer.
The Titan team nomination process includes the provison that players have to be active both on and off the court. Hess has certainly proven to be the perfect nominee, and his list of community involvement runs quite long — fundraising for the Canadian Tractor Museum, the Westlock auction sale and high school graduation, and he participated in this year’s Dance 4 Hope event for Hope Resource Centre.
Hess also spent time coaching kids’ soccer summer camp while attending football practices in the evening.
Hess himself was a little more discreet when it came to speaking about his contributions off the field, perhaps another indication of his reserved nature and team-oriented spirit.
“Jared has been a wonderful part of our program for the last three years,” concluded Kramer.
Former Thunderbird Aidan Walker was a Titan in 2018 and reported back to his team that he would definitely recommend the program.
For himself, Hess plans to go out there, play some football and have fun, but definitely acknowledges the great opportunity he has in being mentored by great coaches and players.
Each year, 70 players from across Canada are selected, after their names are entered on a nomination basis. The Titan team is only in its second year, but it is part of a larger project which has put CFL players in contact with high school athletes for six years.
