Five St. Joes Celtics football team members announce they have committed to play football at the University of Alberta next season. Photo: Christopher Morris

By Shane Clausing

five Celtics commit to U of A

Five St. Joe’s Celtics commit to University of Alberta football team

Jan 12, 2022 | 1:25 PM

Five students from St. Joesph Catholic High School have announced they have committed to play for the University of Alberta (U of A) football team next season.

Matthew Ljuden, Cade Labrecque, Carter Remillard, Duncan Critch, and Carter Kettyle all officially announced their commitment to the U of A on Tuesday.

“Yesterday (Jan.11) was a very special day for our program at St. Joe’s and a very special day for the five boys and their families,” said Celtics Head Coach Trevor Prichard.

“We had a very nice day where the Head Coach of the University of Alberta Chris Morris was able to travel up to Grande Prairie and celebrate the idea that they are all going to the same team moving forward at the University of Alberta.”

Prichard tells EverythingGP the young men who made their commitment to the U of A were scouted by many schools across Canada.

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“These boys were highly sought after by all the universities throughout Canada and kind of had their pick of the litter of wherever they wanted to go,’ Prichard explained. “It was pretty nice and special to see them all choose the same location and continue together.”

Prichard says the five players committing to play university football at one time is by far the most the school has ever had.

“The most I think we’ve ever had sign at one time from our program is three. If you look back through the history of the MPFL (Mighty Peace Football League) I don’t know if I’ve ever seen five kids from Grande Prairie or our region sign U-Sports scholarships.”

With the five boys committing to play at the University of Alberta next season, Prichard says he’s hopeful their work ethic and skill can motivate younger players on the team.

“We have a strong base and nucleus of kids here at St. Joe’s and we’ve got a lot of talented kids. I don’t think this is going to be the last time we’ll see kids signing U-Sports scholarships and not the last time we’ll see more than one at one time. To have five in the same graduating class is pretty remarkable.”

With the football season now over, Prichard says the boys will continue to train for the Senior Bowl in the spring and then get them ready to attend the U of A.