As of mid-July, two 17-year-old players from Saint-Joseph Seminary in Trois-Rivières will join a Tennessee football team.
Jaycob Sauvageau and Nathan Brisebois will soon no longer be training in Trois-Rivières. In a few weeks, they will fly to The Webb School Tennessee in the United States, to begin their training camp. They were both recruited to join the new team.
The process takes several months. The families first dealt with a consultant. He has started the process with the American teams to find those who would be interested in receiving the players from the Mauricie region.
A few months later, the Secondary V graduates were accepted into their chosen school. “A dream come true,” commented Jaycob. “It’s truly a gift of life to have had this opportunity,” added Nathan.
“I was emotional,” said Nathan, when he held the letter in his hands telling him he was accepted. This is also where some stress was felt, because he will have to adapt to a new way of life and another language. The two friends remain confident that their arrival will be for the best. They will also be able to help each other from the very beginning of their journey in Tennessee. “I have already formed a few bonds of friendship”, assured Jaycob, when he visited the place.
The work has only just begun. They will have to continue to work hard during the two years of training to ensure that they keep their place. “It’s really divided into three equal parts. There’s personality, otherwise school grades are a 33% of what they look at, and football talent,” Jaycob explained.
“We made a lot of effort to get chosen because it’s a slim chance of breaking through to go there,” Nathan points out. Already, their admission exams have been passed.
Jaycob and Nathan already train three times a week with Mauricie Olympian Pascal Caron to increase their speed. That’s not counting the hours spent in the gym and working on their athleticism.
They are already in about twenty training sessions with Mr. Caron, reported Jaycob. The physical effort is very demanding, but they also improve very quickly. “The further it goes, the easier it is.”
“If you want to perform, it’s really speed in football,” assured Nathan. Every thousandth of a second can make a difference on the pitch.
It is their rigor and their perseverance that now allows them to foresee a career among professionals. “They’re two good players, they’re two guys who work hard,” noted the head of the football program and youth head coach at Séminaire Saint-Joseph, Hugo Gélinas. “I think it’s two guys who had that goal, to go to the United States and they achieved their goal.”
If Jaycob hopes to enter the university to pursue studies in medicine, Nathan would like to be able to carve out a place in the NFL. “Is this going to happen? I don’t know, but I’ll do my best to get there.”
They would like to thank their parents, who have been a great support and help towards achieving their goal. They couldn’t be more proud to see them go to an American school. Their journey may inspire other young people to devote themselves to their passion as they do.
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