The Football Alberta U18 team held its top 100 camp in Red Deer over a “smoke-filled” weekend May 20-21.
Thanks to the Red Deer Dome allowing the camp to take place indoors, the 100 players were split between two rosters, a U18 Final team and a U18 Blue team.
While 54 players currently sit on the U18 Final team and have been invited to the final camp on June 10 and 11, that camp will reduce the final roster to 40.
As it sits now though, there is some Central-Alberta talent sitting on both teams.
Marek Filipek of Huntington Hills in Red Deer has been selected as one of the two U18 Final team’s quarterbacks going into the final camp.
Adnesse Pannenbecker of Lacombe has been selected as one of nine receivers to make it through.
On the offensive line, Stettler’s Austin Wiebe has been selected as one of 10 players going through.
Finally, Kieran Peterson, of Red Deer’s Notre Dame School, has been picked as one of two players going through for the special teams.
The rest of the 54 come from all over, including Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Okotoks, Canmore, and other locations spread around the province.
Once the final 40-player roster is selected after the June camp, the Alberta U18 team attend the Football Canada Cup in Edmonton during the second week of July.
Some players not selected for the final U18 roster will have the opportunity to join the Blue team in the second week of July when it competes in the Western U18 Challenge in Sherwood Park.
Representing Central-Alberta on the U18 Blue team, so far, are defensive linesman Nathan Okoroafor of Stettler and receiver Aiden Bilalbegovic of Red Deer.