Humboldt football player commits to Regina Thunder

The news of Smith’s signing came over the holidays, as he actually got to do it at his school. Smith said it made it extra special to do it where he has spent the last four years playing football.

“It was extra special being able to do it at the high school, it was the coach’s idea to come down to Humboldt and do the signing at at my own high school, and we set up the table with jerseys, and we gave them a little tour of the school, so it was really nice and it was extra special that way,” he added.

“I really enjoyed playing football in Humboldt, I wouldn’t have wanted to play it anywhere else. The town comes around the football team, Friday night lights the whole community supports the football team and it’s a great environment to be around and I’ve enjoyed it a lot.”

Smith didn’t start playing football until his grade nine year as sports like hockey and baseball just weren’t doing it for him anymore.

As soon as he tried out football, a sport his older brothers played, he was hooked.

“I started playing and I knew immediately football was meant for me. I liked the contact aspect, I liked that it’s a team sport, and I’ve kept playing it ever since… it definitely changed my life, I’ve been playing football for the last four years, year-round. I train in the gym for football, I’ve built myself to be better at football, and I have pretty much kept my grades up so that I can play football,” Smith explained.

“It has definitely affected my life in such a positive way, I don’t think I would have done as well in school, and I don’t even know if I would have still been playing sports if I didn’t play football because none of the other sports really interested me.”

Smith quickly became a standout at HCI, playing all three sides of the ball.

He was a receiver, safety, and kick/punt returner, consistently running it all the way back for a touchdown.

Smith mentioned he had six or seven kick return touchdowns in his first year and even broke school records in his final year for most touchdowns in a season.

That got the attention of the Thunder, as Smith is only the second player in his school’s history to go to the Regina squad.

While he’s only been committed for a little while and won’t truly begin his first season until he graduates high school in the summer, the 17-year-old is already enjoying it so much and is quite happy with his decision.

“I’ve learned a good amount already, they have an incredible coaching staff and a good lifting program as well. My gym training has already gone to the next level and the coaches have taught me a lot that I didn’t know before, which I think will turn me into a much better football player in the next year,” concluded Smith.

“I’ve thought about going the university route, but I can still go to university and play Junior football, and because they support that and they’ll have pay for that, I wanted to play Junior because I would play a lot sooner in my career, because a lot of time in university ball you don’t play until your fourth year.”

The plan for now is that Smith will play four or five years of junior football and then who knows after that.

As for the education piece, he plans to move to Regina after school and enroll in an arts and science program with the possibility of later pursuing something in kinesiology or business.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8

by Ben Tompkins

Humboldt football player commits to Regina Thunder

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