Last Thursday, June 1, was celebrated across Canada as National Signing Day, with young football players putting pen to paper and signing agreements that will pave the way for their future football careers. The day was especially important for five Airdrie football players from Bert Church High School as they signed with the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).

Three of the Bert Church Chargers Ashton Jackson (offensive line), Kadin MacFadzen (offensive line), as well as Aedan Thompson (defensive end), have all signed with the Vancouver Island Raiders in Nanaimo, B.C. While Ty Ochitwa (defensive end) signed with the Westshore Rebels in Victoria B.C. Charlie Wiersma, a wide receiver with the Chargers also signed, though the team is to be named later. 

Jackson said that while he was slightly nervous on signing day - considering this means he will be moving hundreds of kilometres away from home, he added that having his teammates and friends right there with him, does make things easier. With training camp beginning in mid-July, Jackson said he is ready to put in the hard work, underlining that he has played football for a little over five years and believes there is plenty of room for his skillset to develop. 

"[Football is like a] brotherhood. Everyone beside you is your family; regardless of what happens off the field, as soon as you get on the field s switch flips in your head and it's go time," he said.

Jackson's teammate, MacFadzen also expressed his excitement over Signing Day.

"[I'm] mostly excited to play with the guys I played with in high school and excited to move on with my career," MacFadzen said. 

A fan of the New England Patriots, MacFadzen said that he is looking forward to flying out to Nanaimo to meet the rest of the Raiders team as well as the coaching staff. 

"[I'm] just ready to go and anxious to get there," he said.

Aedan Thompson is also ready to go to the West Coast and experience something new and different. Thompson has been playing football for as long as he can remember, starting from the Adam league and then onto peewee and Bantam and finally high school.

"[Football is] I'd say really important. It's where I get to release all the stress. It's all about the game - when I am playing it - I don't have to think about anything else," Thompson said.  

Looking back on his last season with the Chargers, Thompson reflected that there were many high points - especially closer to the end of the season. 

"[It was] definitely in the playoffs when we got our revenge and beat Chestemere or playing Spring Bank and beating them pretty good - that game was really fun."

While Charles (Charlie) Wiersma will not be heading to Nanaimo he is nonetheless pondering his future in football. Wiersma attended both spring training camps for the Calgary Colts as well as the Okanagan Sun and is now on the cusp of deciding where he will go. 

Wiersma who has been playing football since he was eight years old, said while the game is something he does indeed love, it is also the bonds that are made that have a hold on him.

"The friends I've made along the way - and especially high school football, because you're playing with your classmates that you went to school multiple years," he added.

Wiersma said that as he leaves his high school years behind as well as his football team, he urged the younger players to put in the work, because after all the work does pay off.

"If you don't put in the work then you'll never get your full chance of playing football in the future; especially if you want to play in university or junior. You just have to put in the work in the offseason," Wiersma said. "Put in the work during practice, because then the coaches will see your full potential."

Head Coach of the Bert Church Chargers, Tony Lucas, said that last week's signing was also a very proud moment for him.

"When you're there every day at practice, and throughout the year as well and you see the amount of effort that the players have put into it - for them to benefit from that, at long last is very rewarding for those of us who were even part of it in a small way, like I have been," he said.

Lucas who also coached at Springbank Community High School for several years and who has also coached at Bert Church for several more said this year is the year where he saw the most players sign to the CJFL. He explained that the signing is a very important step for young players as it does keep the possibility of a professional football career alive.

"While most of the players who make it to the CFL, [they] do play at Canadian universities or American universities; you can make it from the junior teams as well. It allows you to keep that football experience alive, which is why the kids who play with us train so hard," he said. "'It is a sense of accomplishment - even making it beyond high school is hard - to make it to the next level. So, all of those things matter." 

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