It’s little wonder the Hunting Hills senior football and rugby coaches are rubbing their hands in glee.
Fourteen-year-old Adam Fort, who is just finishing Grade 9 at Hunting Hills and listed at close to six-foot-two and 230-pounds, is one of the premier prospects in both sports.
Fort is in his final season with the Hunting Hills bantam football team where he was named a Central Alberta League all-star and the Hunting Hills lineman of the year. His goal is to play with the senior team next season and head coach Kyle Sedgwick has already contacted him.
“I have talked with the coach a lot and he’s interested in me,” said Fort, who has only played football for two years. He plays both defensive tackle and end and offensive tackle.
“I enjoy the sport and playing bantam has really helped prepare me for senior,” he said.
But while he has all the ingredients needed to star on the football field he may be even better on the rugby pitch.
In fact rugby is his first love.
“I really like rugby,” he said. “I like the fact it’s a team sport and just the environment … it’s like a family.”
Fort became involved in rugby when he was 11.
“My friend was playing and I decided to try it out (with the Red Deer Titans Rugby Club), and I liked it off the bat,”
He played in the U13 program and continued to grow from there.
“I was always big for my age, and I’ve been working out a lot over the last four years,” he said. “I need to continue to work hard so I get better.”
He plays the front or second row with the U15 Titans, who are one of the premier teams in the province.
“Last year we won our league (for second year in a row) and finished second at the provincials,” he said. ‘This year our goal is to win the province.”
Not only did Fort help the U15 Titans to an undefeated regular season, but he was named to the U16 Central Alberta Elite team by the Alberta Rugby Union.
“They picked kids from the games we played and it was a great experience and I learned a lot. In fact the Titans is a great program. They have good coaching and playing with the best players helps a lot.”
Fort looks forward to playing with the Elite program again this season and hopes to make the Alberta Rugby Union’s 16U provincial team.
“That’s a goal for sure,” he said.
As for down the road, Fort would like to remain involved in rugby, more so than football.
“I would love to play professional rugby if there’s a possibility down the road. We’ll just have to see if there’s interest when I reach that point.”
As for other high school sports, he isn’t sure if he’ll have time to play.
“I’ll focus on football and rugby, although I may try out for basketball and some track and field.”
Whatever he decides there’s a good chance the coaches will be happy to have him.
Danny Rode is a retired Advocate reporter who can be reached at drode@reddeeradvocate.com. His work can also be seen at Danny’s blog at rdcathletics.ca