Imagine being only 10 years old, playing quarterback for your football team, and taking the snap with 40,000 cheering fans in the stands of an indoor stadium, watching your every move.
Now you know why Damien Talarico-Andreason can't wait for next Sunday.
He and his mates on the Prince George Peewee Red football team will get a chance to play a mini-game against a yet-to-be-determined opponent during the intermission of the B.C. Lions-Ottawa Redblacks game.
"I want to win," said Damien, 10, now in his fifth year as a football player.
"It'll be cool playing for a big crowd. I'm just going to work my hardest."
For their game, the peewees will be on the field for only about 10 minutes, but it's their 15 minutes of fame and for most of the kids it will be unforgettable.
"I don't know if they know what to expect - it's a totally different experience for these kids, being able to play in front of that many people, it's super-exciting," said P.G. Red coach Jack Page, who took a team of Prince George Minor Football Association peewees to play at a Lions game last year.
"Probably one of the coolest things last year was when me and my son [offensive guard Thomas Page] were the last ones on the field standing in the middle of the field. I said to him, 'Just look around you and look at where you are. Take this in as an experience.'"
Twenty-five Prince George players and six from Vanderhoof will form two teams to play in six simultaneous games in the Lions' half-time exhibition, sanctioned by the B.C. Minor Football Association. The peewees (10- and 11-year-olds) will take the pre-game warm-ups with the pros and will get to spend some quality time with Lions and Redblacks players on the field.
Brett Steffey plays on the offensive line for the Vanderhoof Vikings and he knows there's nothing that can prepare him for being on a pro football stage this Sunday.
"It's nervewracking," Steffey said. "It's going to be cool. I just want to get my sweater signed and meet the players."
Spencer Ponto, a defensive end for P.G. Red, was a first-year peewee last year and got to play at the Lions' game when they beat Montreal 28-14. With players from the P.G. Purple squad joining forces with P.G. Red and Vanderhoof, Ponto figures the two local teams playing under the dome on Sunday will be tough to beat.
"A lot of the teams are really hard, I played New Westminster last year and they were very hard to play," said Ponto. "This team is good, I think they'll do really good down there," he said.
Charlene Vohar knows what her son Kurtis is in for, having watched her two older boys, Terrance and Mark, go through the same experience as peewee players.
"They have an amazing time, they get to go down right before the game starts and warm up with them and can take whatever they want to get signed, and they hang out with the cheerleaders," she said. "One of the cheerleaders picked up my oldest boy, Terrance, and spun him around and he will never forget that. Its pretty exciting to walk into B.C. Place Stadium."
Kurtis, who plays for the P.G. Red peewees, tagged along with his brother Mark last year on the field in Vancouver and he knows the drill. He can't wait to meet his favourite player, Lions' injured quarterback, Travis Lulay.
"It's really exciting, it feels really good walking on that field," said Kurtis. "I'll be really nervous. I always get really nervous before the games and then when I'm playing I'm fine."
