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Hennessey represents B.C. in Border Bowl

Grizzly has post-secondary football dreams
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Border defended Whistler's Brett Hennessey helped Team B.C. to a victory over Team Alberta at the ABC Border Bowl in Vernon on May 28. Photo submitted

Brett Hennessey traded black for blue late last month.

The Pemberton Grizzlies star was invited to suit up for Team BC as part of the ABC Border Bowl weekend in Vernon on May 28. The linebacker and running back helped cap off a British Columbia four-game sweep with a 35-31 win over Team Alberta in the Rising Star Bowl for Grade 10 and 11 students. Three games featuring younger players were held earlier in the day.

"It was a great experience," he said. "I know the competition was a really high calibre so it was fun to see how everyone measured up."

The games, especially the Rising Star Bowl, are designed to help get the top young football players in the province in one place so university scouts can determine who they may want to keep an eye on in their final seasons of high school.

As a result, all players were switched in and out with each ensuing drive to give everyone equal looks.

"It's an exposure team, so it's trying to get (players) recognized for being able to play for universities, so they split it up equally between everyone who's on the team," he said.

While Hennessey noted he didn't necessarily have an explosive game, defenders are ones the casual fans won't necessarily notice if they're doing their jobs, but scouts will have an eye out for them.

"There were a few big tackles that I had, but nothing super huge. I had a good game," he said. "I didn't really screw anything up so I did my part.

"You know you can play because you're on the all-star team. It's just going out and seeing what you can do."

Though it was ostensibly an exhibition game, players in both uniforms were raring to eke out the win. Hennessey said the result left him a little squeaky for a couple days.

"My voice was pretty destroyed for the next week," he chuckled.

Hennessey said he has already been in touch with some recruiters within the province, and his performance in the game may boost his profile further.

The team had a two-day insertion camp to select the roster, four practices leading up to the weekend, and then a final pair of workouts the day before the game, allowing some time for players to familiarize themselves with one another but without introducing any overly complicated schemes.

Fellow Grizzly Ben Shuster was also invited to try out for the team but was injured at the insertion camp.