VANCOUVER – With the 2022 Canada West Football season less than a month away, the UBC Thunderbirds are gearing up for a year full of potential.
Coming on the heels of a shortened 2021 campaign that saw breakout performances from then-rookie quarterback
Garrett Rooker and running back
Isaiah Knight, among others, the team's 2022 BierCraft Training Camp begins this coming Sunday, August 14.
"We're glad football's back, I think a lot of work has been put in not only from the players but the coaching staff and the department as well," said UBC Head Coach,
Blake Nill who enters his eighth season with the T-Birds and 24
th overall leading a U SPORTS program. "We're excited to see what our efforts are going to bring to the table and I'm confident we're going to have a strong year at UBC in 2022."
The T-Birds finished the six-game 2021 regular season with three wins in their final four contests. Clinching a playoff berth, they gained some valuable experience with a young squad, dropping their Hardy Cup semifinal game against the eventual Vanier Cup finalist Saskatchewan Huskies.
Rooker, the reigning Canada West Rookie of the Year, returns for his sophomore season under centre along with many key pieces of his offence as well as plenty of returnees on the defensive side of the ball, all of whom come back to campus with high expectations.
Helping bolster the exciting young T-Birds core is an equally as exciting 2022 recruit class featuring athletes from across the continent.
Shemar McBean is a standout receiver from Calgary's Nelson Mandela High School. At 5-foot-11 and 182 pounds, McBean also played the past few seasons with the Calgary Colts of the Prairie Football Conference.
"Shemar is an incredible athlete, I feel very fortunate to attract an athlete like him to the program," said Nill. "He's going to give us some additional speed on offence, another tool for coach Stevenson Bone and we think he's going to be able to play and impact quickly."
Ben Sangmuah is a 6-foot-2, 190 pound cornerback from Burlington, Ontario who has the potential to be an immediate impact player in UBC's secondary. With a 37 inch vertical and strength to go along with his speed, Sangmuah has plenty of natural abilities the T-Birds can't wait to exploit.
"One of our areas we felt a need to improve was the back end of our defence in the secondary," Nill explained. "Coach
Shomari Williams brought this young man to the forefront early in the recruiting year and we developed a relationship. Ben's a long, lanky athlete who played at Football North in Ontario, he's played a US schedule and has competed fairly extensively as a high school kid. He's the kind of athlete we went after and we're excited to see what he'll bring to the table as we start the season."
Demetri Patterson is a linebacker out of Surrey who has also competed for B.C. at the Football Canada Cup.
"We're very excited about having Demitri on the field with us in 2022. He's a hardnosed local kid, he brings some length and an ability to cover ground. I think this is going to be a young man we're going to talk a lot about in the future."
Zach Patfield is another recruit Nill and the 'Birds have had their eyes on for some time, and the big, young athlete gives UBC some versatility on the field.
"Zach is a young man who I think represents a lot about UBC. He's a kid who spent last year with Corpus Christi College upgrading and getting the grades he required. He's the latest in a terrific line of recruits we've had go through that program, this partnership has worked very well for us.
Giovanni Manu is another young man who has gone that route. He's a big mobile athlete, we'll use Zach in a lot of different positions on offence at tight end and at fullback. He'll also be a big contributor on special teams initially as he gets his feet wet."
If there's one position Nill can't talk enough about, it's offensive linemen. Perhaps the most underappreciated component of a football team at any level, UBC's powerful offence wouldn't be able to do their jobs without their protection. The addition of Colton Mocon adds huge potential to what the 'Birds' O-line can accomplish.
"Colton Mocon is a provincial champion from GW Graham in Chilliwack who came from his home in Ontario to play his grade 12 year in Chilliwack. He's a big, rugged offensive lineman. He's a sleeper, I think Colton has a chance to play this year depending how quickly he adapts to the physicality of line play in Canada West. He definitely has the physical tools, it's a matter of how he manages this transition."
These five recruits join many others, including
receiver Gavin Owen, for the start of UBC Football's 2022 BierCraft Training Camp which runs through Saturday, August 27. The T-Birds will play one pre-season game against the Calgary Dinos on Wednesday, August 24 in Vernon, B.C., UBC's first exhibition contest since 2017.
The T-Birds open up the 2022 Canada West season at home on Saturday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m. against the Alberta Golden Bears.
