Chatham-Kent Cougars Award Winners Rave About Local Football Program



Chatham-Kent Cougars Graham Smyth and Jake Gartner

Chatham-Kent, ON – When most people think about sports in Chatham-Kent, they think about a stick and a puck. For a growing group of Chatham-Kent youth however, it’s all about the pigskin. Founded in 2006, the Chatham-Kent Cougars are hard at work training for another season of football. Last week, the organization took a moment to honour their top travel team players at an awards night.

At a moment when the Cougars were honouring their young players, those players took the opportunity to rave about their local football organization and the opportunities playing for the Chatham-Kent Cougars has provided them, including for most, the goal of moving on to University football.

“It’s great preparation for University football,” said Cougars D-line MVP Jake Langstaff, “I don’t think University football could happen for me without playing for the Cougars.” This gratitude for the lessons learned in the Chatham-Kent Cougars organization, and the improvement players are seeing was echoed by David Allan, a Cougars offensive line MVP who recently joined the Navy, “I feel I became a better player with the Cougars and saw large improvements in my technique.”

For most young Cougars football players, University football is the goal, and the players recognize that the systems they are learning and playing are serving as excellent preparation for that step,

“The Cougars defensive system is similar to several CIS systems I’ve seen, and it’s preparing me for that next level,” said JereMiah Hamilton, a Cougars Defensive Co-MVP and John McGregor Secondary School student.

Playing with the Cougars, local players are exposed to a talent level, and a variety of offensive and defensive systems they would not experience at the high school level alone, “I’ve enjoyed playing for the Cougars. I like playing against other talented players and a variety of offences,” said Tristan Robinet, a senior student at Ursuline College Chatham and the Chatham-Kent Cougars rookie of the year.

These players, and other young football players are already hard to work preparing for another summer of football in Chatham-Kent. The Cougars, who offer youth football programs for all ages, will begin their season in late May.

Continue to follow the Chatham-Kent Sports Network for more football news and updates on the Chatham-Kent Cougars throughout their season.