En route to a golden finish in the U18 Football Canada Cup, Team Alberta’s Jake Wicker soaked up a sampling of his probable future as a college student and varsity athlete.
Read more: Reiniger courts success with Saskatchewan
Wicker and fellow competitors stayed in the St. Francis Xavier University dormitories for a week during the national championship tournament in July at Antigonish, N.S.
“It was a cool experience,” said Wicker, who is going into his Grade 12 year at Holy Rosary High School in Lloydminster. “Just walking around campus and showing up for meetings, and having a schedule and staying in the dorms, it was nice. It’s going to prepare me for college life.”
Wicker continued that preparation in August as he participated in identification camps with the University of Regina Rams and the University of Alberta Golden Bears.
And, of course, he’s now right back in the swing of things with the Holy Rosary Raiders as they ready for the high school season. The Raiders are two-time defending Alberta champions at the Tier 3 level.
“We have a good team going in,” Wicker said. “We lost a lot of good seniors, but we also gained some good rookies coming up, too, so I think we’ll have a pretty good chance (to capture another title).”
Wicker’s fellow seniors at Holy Rosary include teammate Denem Weber, who was also part of Alberta’s gold-medal-winning team at the Canada Cup.
“It was definitely nice to have a guy from my team that I knew, going to nationals with me,” Wicker said. “It made it a little better, flying so far away from home.
“Denem is a good player. He made a lot of plays (as a defensive back). He was at the ball every time a receiver caught it. He was in for the tackle. He did a lot for the team.”
Wicker — six-foot-two and 300 pounds — made his considerable presence felt on the offensive line. He protected Alberta’s quarterback and running back “so they could make all the big plays and win us the game,” Wicker said with a smile, sporting his gold medal.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
In dramatic fashion, Alberta came from behind in the final to defeat Ontario 37-34 in overtime.
It was a familiar script for Alberta, which also made a comeback in the semifinals to defeat Quebec.
“It was very close and very nerve-racking,” Wicker recounted. “It was close every time. We were always down by two (or) three touchdowns by the second quarter, and we just made our way back. We finished the job and won.
“Our head coach made a really good halftime talk during our gold-medal game. He just talked about, ‘If you want to win the game, you’ve got to be the other team’s nightmare.’ It’s just something he said that resonated with me.”
While he normally plays both offensive line and defensive line for Holy Rosary, Wicker’s role with Team Alberta was strictly on the offensive side, applying the heavyweight strength he’s enhanced from his steady summer workout plan.
“I’ve been going to the gym lots.”
At the Canada Cup, Wicker reacquainted himself with Nova Scotia relatives he had met just a year earlier.
“On my mom’s side, I had some great uncles and aunties living there, and I had some cousins over there, too,” said Wicker, 17.
“It was a pretty cool experience, meeting them for the first time last year. Then, this year, they came to some of my games (in Antigonish). That was nice of them.”
Wicker’s cheering section at the nationals included both of his parents, Tony and Emmylou, along with a family friend.
Born and raised in Lloydminster, Wicker has represented Alberta on multiple occasions. Last year, he was part of the provincial U17 team that competed in Calgary at the Western Canadian championship.
As part of another Team Alberta, Wicker played in interprovincial Indigenous football championships in 2023 and 2024.
“That was a different calibre, but still a very cool experience,” he said of those cultural and athletic celebrations.
“I couldn’t do it this summer, though, because I made the (Canada Cup) U18 team and they didn’t really want me getting hurt or anything before the national tournament.”
SCOUTS EYE PROSPECTS
He described the Canada Cup as a spectacle, attracting scouts from university programs across the nation.
“U18 was very good for exposure,” Wicker said. “There were lots of universities there to look at you and for you to get recognized with all the other colleges around Canada.
“I’ve been going to a lot of university camps. The plan is to hopefully get some universities looking at me, and gaining a scholarship. I’m looking at going into kinesiology, which will be nice.”
While his auditions at university camps have been in Western Canada, Wicker also warmed up to Atlantic Canada during his Nova Scotia visit.
“It’s a nice campus and a nice small town,” he said of St. F.X. and Antigonish. “We went to a few beaches (on non-game days). It was very nice. We’d go as a team, have fun out there, swim and make some sand sculptures.
“On campus, we each had our own room and own bathroom, which was nice. And we were all close together, in the same proximity, so we could also hang out together in the evening.”
Back home in Lloyd, Wicker planned to hang his national gold medal in his bedroom, alongside his provincial championship medals from Holy Rosary.
Read more: Denem fit for gold with Team Alberta
