You can add the names of some more graduating Ballenas Whalers that have moved on to other teams.
“It’s a pretty accomplished graduating class,” Whalers’ head coach Jeremy Conn said this week when The News caught up with him, pointing out, of the 13 players that graduated this year, four will be back out on the field next season.
Justin Holland is headed for Nova Scotia where he’ll be attending St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX) and suiting up for the varsity X-Men football team as a defensive back. The X-Men compete in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport’s (CIU) four-team Atlantic division.
Offensive lineman Terrek Bryant was being wooed by SFU but has chosen to play for the Langley Rams who compete in the Canadian Junior Football League’s (CJFL) six-team BC Football Conference. Formerly the Surrey Rams, the team was founded in 1948.
Standout receiver Dustin Rodriguez and linebacker Alex Adams have both committed to the CJFL powerhouse VI Raiders out of Nanaimo. The CJFL is a proving grounds for players aged 18-23.
All four players, points out Conn, “are hard working guys with high football IQs, and they’ll definitely make any team they go to, a better team, that’s for sure.”
The Raiders host the Rams Aug. 11 for their BCFC regular season home opener at Caledonia Park — kickoff is 5 p.m.