American Football International reports that USA Football's application to replace Sweden as tournament host has been accepted but that participation from the various countries involved has to be confirmed before anything is made official. This is still great news because the possibility of the event taking place at all seemed quite small for a while there.
On to Mason Bennett. Much of the information below has been shared with us by Football Manitoba (and copied in an earlier post) but the article below adds to his list of accomplishments and displays why this young man seems easy to like and cheer for. Credit to Danielle Da Silva for the article (unsure as to who phot credit goes to, but it's certainly not me). Complete version available here.
...The 17-year-old defensive end recently participated in the 2014 Football Canada Cup representing Manitoba, where he was recognized as a standout player and was one of 40 athletes selected for Team Canada.
"I was very surprised and very happy and very honoured to be chosen, especially from all the guys who made the provincial team, and for me to be selected from Manitoba was pretty big," Bennett said.
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The selection to Team Canada rounds off 2014 on a high note for Bennett. At 6-3 and 230 pounds Bennett leads the Winnipeg High School Football League (WHSFL) in sacks at 14 and has 41.5 tackles to his name.
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The Grade 12 student at Vincent Massey Collegiate (VMC) has also accepted a scholarship offer to play at the University of North Dakota, and is finishing off 2014 with an academic average of 85 per cent.
Bennett credits some of his success to playing against talented athletes on the teams he’s been a part of and working with coaching staff at Vincent Massey, especially head coach Kelsey McKay.
"He’s the one that made me try out for Team Manitoba two years ago and without that I probably wouldn’t have gained the confidence to be the player I am today," Bennett said.
McKay said Bennett has embraced his speed, strength and intelligence in picking plays since he started with the Trojans three years ago.
"From the moment that I met him… he’s always had a tremendous work ethic," McKay said, adding that Bennett has spent a great deal of time in the gym building on his strengths and maturing his body.
"It’s allowed him to have a lot of success," McKay said.
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While at UND, Bennett plans to study psychology and become a life coach for students who don’t have the money or mindset to play sports. He hopes to help young athletes develop through sport the same way he did.
"I think it motivates me to be a better person, a better person in the community, better student, a better everything pretty much," Bennett said.
McKay expects more success for Bennett in the future based on what he’s seen from the young athlete so far.
"He’s been the most successful in terms of reaching his goals and that’s because he keeps his eye on the ball."
"We can’t wait to see, when the story is finished being told, what it looks like."
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