Myer’s Rudy signs with Waterloo
When Kyle Wilson started high school, he was the last person anyone would have expected to be recruited and signed by an Ontario University Athletics football program.
But the 18-year-old proved all the naysayers wrong Tuesday as he and teammate Jacob Iudiciani were front and centre at A.N. Myer signing letters of intent to play for the University of Waterloo Warriors.
“For me, he is like the Rudy of the team,” Myer head coach Dave Buchanan said. “He started playing football in Grade 9 and, by his own admittance, wasn’t good. He just worked and worked and never gave up.”
The receiver didn’t touch the field in Grade 9 and 10, played in one or two games in Grade 11, got in a few more games in Grade 12 and then became a full-fledged starter in 12B.
“He has never been the prototypical starter or superstar for anyone but he was always a kid coming for extra speed training and reps,” Buchanan said. “He was a good role player and before you know it, he is a kid who is being recruited.”
Wilson’s family moved to Niagara Falls from Toronto when he was 14 and he started at Myer in Grade 9.
“I had never played contact sports before and I started football in Grade 9 because I though it looked like fun,” the 6-foot-2 175 pounder said. “I started to play and just progressed through the years.”
He never sulked when he didn’t see the field and he tried to do whatever he could to get noticed by the Myer coaching staff.
“I studied the playbook and tried to be that guy that could go in at multiple positions if they needed somebody. I wasn’t just a one-position kind of guy,” he said. “That allowed me to play multiple positions and when they needed someone to step up this year, I stepped up.”
Wilson began to think he had a future in football after his Grade 12 year.
“I went to a camp at Waterloo last year and the coaches all liked me and started talking to me,” he said. “That’s when I realized it could be an actual thing and I really grinded it out this past year.”
He certainly caught the eye of Waterloo.
“Kyle has been to our camps multiple times and we really like that he has a great catch radius and is a smooth route runner,” Waterloo head coach Chris Bertoia said. “He has good size and still needs to get in the weight room but we are excited for his future.”
Waterloo was the only school to recruit Wilson and he was a more than willing signee.
“They have an excellent school there and I will come out with a really good education,” he said. “There’s also a lot of guys from Myer up there already so it’s kind of like a brotherhood. It feels like family.”
Myer grads presently playing at Waterloo include all-stars Tre and Tyrell Ford and Rushon Dagelman.
Wilson is planning to study recreation and sport business at Waterloo. To prepare for his first university training camp, he will hit the weight room and do what he has always done.
“I am going to try and be that Swiss Army Knife and play wherever they need me to play. I am also going to learn the whole playbook and if they need someone to step up, I’m there.”
