After competing in the senior bowl on the May long weekend, a pair of graduating Tisdale Tornados got the opportunity to play for Team Saskatchewan at the 2017 Saskota Bowl.
The bowl, which pits the best graduating high school football players in Saskatchewan against the best from North Dakota was played in Rolla, North Dakota on July 4.
Joining Team Saskatchewan from Tisdale Middle and Secondary School were Gregory Brett and Cole Gisi.
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Gregory Brett
Brett, a 6’2” defensive back, was really pleased to have the opportunity to play in the game, calling the experience “pretty sweet.”
“Getting to play against the U.S. is something not everyone gets the chance to do in a lifetime, so it was pretty awesome that I got to be able to do that.”
With the game in North Dakota this year, getting the opportunity to play football in the States made the experience that much cooler, said Brett, noting that he got the opportunity to experience the tempo at which they play the game, and the difference in football culture between Saskatchewan and North Dakota.
Looking back on his experience, Brett says the thing that stands out most to him is being able to play in a best-on-best competition, noting overall the whole game was memorable.
While Brett was able to gain some memories he was also able to learn a thing or two during his time, noting that the biggest take away from the experience was knowing that no matter the circumstance, he always needs to give it his best.
“You’ve just got to keep going even when times get tough you’ve just got to keep giving it your best and keep trying hard.”
Overall Brett said he feels he was able to put forth a solid effort.
“I didn’t get to do a whole lot like I wanted to, I didn’t get any interceptions or anything but I think I contributed to the team and as a team we played really good.”
Looking ahead, Brett will be taking his football talents west as he will be joining the Okanagan Sun of the Canadian Junior Football League, where he will play defensive back.
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Cole Gisi
Gisi meanwhile joined Team Saskatchewan as a 5’6” tight end, and said it was a little different experience than what he is used to.
“A different atmosphere, pretty competitive.”
Gisi noted that being able to play the game in North Dakota was also a cool experience.
“To see how seriously the guys take it and playing against different teams and different guys, and different skill levels. I thought was pretty neat.”
Gisi’s most memorable moment from the experience was proving to the North Dakotans that there is not that great of a skill discrepancy between the two.
“They’re not that much better than us. We lost but it was a pretty close game. We just made a couple mistakes, the game could have gone either way.”
While Gisi was able to make some memories he was also able to come away from the experience knowing that it is important to never stop practicing.
“Just keep working hard because we practiced pretty hard and they thought they were going to beat us 100-0 and we gave them a really close game. So just work hard and anything’s possible.”
Overall Gisi was pleased with how he was able to play noting that he made a couple of blocks on some touchdowns and made a big catch for 10-15 yards.
“So I thought I played well.”
Looking ahead, Gisi will be heading to the University of Regina where he will be studying education, and says his goals is to become a football coach within the next 4-5 years.
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The game
Unfortunately for both Gisi and Brett they came out on the wrong side of the scoreboard.
After an evenly matched first half that saw the teams hit the locker room tied at 21, Team Cando North Dakota took over in the second half outscoring Team Saskatchewan 20-7 en route to a 41-28 victory.
