Kruise Hofferd
There is a common belief in the game of football, that the most important position on the field is that of the quarterback. The quarterback is referred to as the general, but even more important than the signal caller, is the left or right tackle.
Take Kruise Hofferd of the Peace River Pioneers for example. The job of the 6 foot 4 inch and 230lbs left tackle is to protect the quarterback’s blindside from blitzing defensive ends and lineman.
Kruise says he started playing football because all of his friends were doing it.
“I actually just joined up in grade 10, because all of my friends were playing and I was big so I thought I would give it a shot, and I tried out for the Alberta Summer Games team and made the team and was name captain and I played left tackle and middle linebacker on the team”. He said.
Playing in Northern Alberta, players have to deal with a variety of challenges, the least of which is the weather. Rain and the odd blizzard are not an uncommon sight in October or November at Glen Mary Field during a Pioneers game. Hofferd says playing in the bad weather is what makes the game of football so much fun to play.
“It makes football fun, and everyone that plays the game knows that the bad weather comes with the territory and that you just have to deal with it”. He said.
At the moment, when he is not playing for the Pioneers, Kruise patrols the sidelines of the Peace River Panthers Peewee football team. He also says that at the moment his goals for football are to capture both a provincial and Peace Bowl title. Hofferd is also grateful for the opportunity to play a game that he loves and is not taking anything for granted.
On May 5th-6th, Kruise will be in Edmonton taking part in an offensive and defensive lineman camp, that only accepted 30 players. The two coaches at the event are the offensive and defensive line coaches for the Edmonton Eskimos. This camp will serve as a good warmup for Hofferd, before he heads off to the Team Alberta selection camp from May 18th-21st.
