Cory Robinson hopes the next few weeks of Rocky View Sports Association football playoffs won’t be his last few games.
The 17-year-old Grade 12 captain of the George McDougall Mustangs, who plays on the offensive line, at linebacker and is the team’s punter, is hoping to lead his squad towards a berth at zones and provincials.
But if that doesn’t happen, he’s hoping his skill set and football knowledge will help him secure a spot at the next level in the fall of 2012.
“I really want to play university ball and hopefully past that too,” Robinson said.
“If I could get a scholarship, that would be great, but I’m willing to go wherever it takes to play football.”
Brent Legault, his head coach at George Mac, believes Robinson has the potential.
“It’s fantastic how he plays. He’s one of the guys who will sacrifice everything he’s got for this team – that’s just how he approaches it and how much he loves this team,” Legault said.
“From the O-line to linebacker, he reads the field very well. Defensively, he’s always got an eye on where the ball is. And his grades are up there enough that he should be able to get into university. I think he’s got terrific potential.”
Robinson is in his seventh year of organized football, and 10th season overall, having played two years of Peewee, two years of Bantam and three years of Midget – all in the Airdrie Storm and Northern Raiders programs.
He helped lead the Raiders to a Calgary Midget Football League Division 2 championship in May. He started playing both sides of the ball during his Grade 10 year and added punting duties as well, which Legault said he has improved upon significantly.
“He’s worked on his punting a lot this year,” he said. “His timing on it is a lot cleaner now.”
“It’s been going pretty good,” Robinson said. “We’ve got a lot of guys out there who have never played before, so to see them come out and give that much effort is great.”
Robinson attended a University of Calgary camp during the summer and said he would like to stay in the area next fall if he could.
“I think I played really well there and I’ve been talking to their coaches a bit,” he said.
“I’m working on getting a highlight reel out.”
Now, in his third season with the Mustangs, he also has aspirations of a lengthy post-season run.
“I think we can do great things,” Robinson said. “I think we can win the division because we’ve competed with every team in it. I’ve got confidence that we can win.”
