Two former Bonnyville Bandits and Voyageurs have made the jump to junior football and will be playing with the Saskatoon Hilltops of the Canadian Junior Football League's Prairie Football Conference.
Jeremy Fagnan and Blake Adams will be joining the back-to-back Canadian Bowl champions later this summer as the Hilltops main camp gets underway.
“It's an amazing opportunity to play for the best junior football team in Canada for the past two years running,” said Adams.
Fagnan and Adams started their football careers together in 2008 during the inaugural Bandits campaign before moving up to the Voyageurs for the next three seasons and winning the Wheatland Football League's Consolation Championship the past two seasons.
They will now continue on the same path together, striving to excel in junior football.
The two players tried out for the Hilltops at the start of May. There was little waiting before finding out whether they were selected for the team, as players were notified if they made it while still in the change room after the final day of tryouts.
“They called us out one by one and let us know if we made it or not,” explained Adams. “It was a little nerve racking.”
After hearing they made the team, the boys broke the news to family members in attendance, who not surprisingly were overjoyed.
“My parents flipped,” said Fagnan. “They were so excited.”
Fagnan and Adams will both move to Saskatoon at the end of July and room together while there.
Main camp gets underway July 30, with the first game of the regular season game taking place in Calgary against the Colts on Aug. 12.
Adams, who for the most part played as a running back and linebacker with the Voyageurs, will line up as a defensive tackle for the Hilltops.
“I'm too big and slow to be a running back or linebacker in this league,” he said, laughing. “But I'll have a little bit of an advantage over other linemen, because of my speed and quickness that I developed (as a running back and linebacker).”
Fagnan will initially line up as a defensive back for the Hilltops, though he said he is willing to play wherever the coach puts him.
“I'll play anywhere,” he said. “I want to continue to improve at any position I am put in.”
Fagnan played in several positions, both defensively and offensively with the Voyageurs, but was the starting quarterback for the past two seasons in Bonnyville.
One of the benefits of living together, besides having a friend as a roommate, is the two friends will push each other to be better, explained Adams.
“We both want to be the best we can be. And even though we might not play the same position we can still help and encourage each other along the way.
“The coaches and players on this team are great and really welcoming, but it is also nice to have a friend, someone you know, there with you,” Adams said.
Though there is still a month and a half of training and staying healthy on their own time, before joining the Hilltops, neither player can wait to hit the field.
“I'm so excited,” said Adams. “I wanted to get back on the field as soon as last season ended.”
Fagnan said he just wants to play football.
“What I'm looking forward to most about (being selected for the Hilltops)?” he asked rhetorically. “Just going out there and playing and being the best player I can be.”