Local player Derek Beaubien will play football with the best high school players in the world on January 14-15, 2020 at the International Bowl in the AT& Stadium in Arlington Texas – home of the Dallas Cowboys. Beaubien, a student at Assiniboia Composite High School, is joining Team Canada’s 40-player roster for the U-18 national team as a player on the offensive line position. Squads from the United States, Japan, Mexico and other parts of Latin America are taking part in the competition in Texas this winter along with Canada.
Beaubien is also a track athlete at school and competes in discus, shotput and the 100 metre-dash. He serves as a lifeguard at the Assiniboia Aquatic Centre and holds a water safety instructor certificate, allowing him to teach swimming lessons to the children in Assiniboia. Moreover, he likes playing basketball, however his speciality is football. “Football is my passion,” he said. “I’ve been playing football since Grade 5. I started playing pee wee and there wasn’t a bantam team here (in Assiniboia), so I went to Moose Jaw and played with the Razorbacks.” Later, he joined the Rockets.
Beaubien is a talented athlete who has to balance a heavy workload of school work and football. But whenever possible, the gold medal athlete trains at a local gym. “I usually go to the gym as much as possible,” Beaubien said. “One of the football coaches runs the gym, so I get a discount.”
Beaubien earned his gold medal at the U 18 2019 Canada Cup in Kingston with Team Saskatchewan in July. Beaubien appreciated his time playing football in one of Ontario’s historic cities. He also liked meeting other players from different parts of Canada. “It was great being with all the people.” But the teen especially enjoyed the skills he learned after playing football on a unified team who all proved their dedication to the game, even during harsh weather. “We practiced through a thunderstorm once,” Beaubien said as he described the sportsmanship of U-18 Saskatchewan in glowing terms this summer in Kingston.
Beaubien played the left tackle position on the offensive line for the provincial team. The selection process for U-18 Team Saskatchewan team involved lengthy periods of open tryouts for players entering Grades 11-12. The training camps were held in Saskatoon on May 11 and in Regina on May 12. After Regina’s camp, the top 100 players were identified. At the top 100 camp, Beaubien collected the Top Offensive Lineman award from Football Saskatchewan for 2019. The uppermost 40 players across Saskatchewan were chosen to represent the province at the Canada Cup Tournament after the completion of the spring trials in Regina and Saskatoon.
Saskatchewan won it’s second straight Canada Cup after thrashing Quebec with a 16-9 result this July in the pre-university, interprovincial match held in Kingston. Beforehand, the summer tournament began in Saskatchewan’s favour after the provincial team cleared Nova Scotia out with a damaging 37-0 finish. Thereafter, U-18 Team Saskatchewan dumped Ontario’s home team from the competition with 23-15 score, before moving onwards to hammer Quebec out of the tournament on July 13, 2019 at Richardson Stadium in Queen's University.
Derek’s story won’t end in Texas this winter, because as part of the pathway for the Canadian Junior national team, players from the tournament in Arlington will be evaluated for the under 19 team who will compete in the World Junior Championship in Orlando in August. Derek has stated "I'm excited to play with the best of the best against the best of the best."
