Middle linebacker Kobe Kidd had the rare opportunity to play Canadian rules football when he suited up for Team BC at the Football Canada Cup in Antigonish, N.S., July 12-20.
Kidd has been playing football since he was five years old lining up for his first games for minor football games with the Prince George Axemen and he’s played four-down football almost exclusively ever since.
But football is football and it was an easy adjustment for him playing on longer, wider field and having to deal with offences in forward motion before the snap.
The 17-year-old Prince George native is now in Washington state about to begin his final season of high school football playing varsity ball for the Yelm Tornados. Kidd wants to play for an NCAA U.S. college team next year and decided his best opportunity to get noticed was the head to the States, where football is a religion.
“I saw it was a good football team close to home and messaged them - they need a middle linebacker so I was right on it, I’ve played middle linebacker my entire life,” said Kidd. “I just felt I needed some more American exposure, there’s honestly nothing like football in the States and I want to get Division 1 offers.
“I want to show the States who I am and get as much exposure as I can, so I’m super-excited for that and for the competition.”
The Tornados play in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. They won the 3A state title in 2022, were runners-up in 2023 and last year moved up to the 4A division. They play a nine-game schedule that starts in early September and he says it will be close to 15 games if they go to the state championship at Husky Stadium in Seattle.
The football stadium in Yelm, a city of 10,700 people near Tacoma, has a seating capacity of 4,000 but Kidd says it’s not unusual for the team to draw crowds closer to 5,000.
“Our stadium is nice,” he said. “Football is everything down here.
“You go to a restaurant and they have pictures of the stadium and pictures of football teams on the walls. You go to Walmart and our team merchandise is right where you walk in and you can buy hoodies with our team logo.”
Kidd is a two-sport athlete who also played rep lacrosse for Prince George Posse rep teams. He was drafted by the senior C Prince George Bandits but he gave up lacrosse two years ago so he could focus on football. He always played with older players in minor football and that sped his development.
“I’ve had awesome coaching, I played for the Prince George Axemen from kindergarten to Grade 7, and then went to Kelly Road, which was great development and helped set me up and gain confidence to go down south,” said Kidd.
Kidd made the BC provincial team this summer and he and Bennett Switzer, a former high school teammate of Kidd’s with the Shas Ti Kelly Road Roadrunners, represented Prince George along with Bennett Switzer at the eight-team Football Canada Cup tournament in Antigonish, N.S., July 12-20.
Team BC squad didn’t the results it was after, finishing seventh with a 1-2 record, but it was still a great experience for the two PG boys to showcase their talents in front of university scouts from every U SPORTS team.
“It was great, I loved playing in front of college coaches, every single U SPORTS program is required to be there,” said Kidd. “Bennett want to the U SPORT route and he definitely has the potential to do it.”
Kidd played his Grade 10 season for the Lord Tweedsmuir Panthers of Surrey, then transferred to Ontario to play for the Football North prep program. Based in Mississauga, Ont., the team played exclusively American teams, including a few state champions, and that opened up the opportunity for Kidd to play high school ball in Yelm.
Ryan Bellamy coached Kidd for two years at Shas Ti Kelly Road and Switzer was part of the team for his Grade 8 season. Both players are listed at six-foot-two, 220 pounds and Bellamy wasn’t surprised to see them on the provincial team.
“Kobe is a very experienced football player who played PG minor football - he’s strong and tough and fast and he’s really smart and knows his way around the football field,” said Bellamy.
“Bennett has raw talent and football came naturally to him, he just needed more experience. They’re both big guys and they work hard.”
Switzer, also a middle linebacker, moved from Prince George to Parksville two years ago after his Grade 8 season at STKR and spent the past two high school seasons with the Ballenas Whalers, helping them reach the BC School Sports junior varsity double-A final in 2023. He’ll be will be back for his Grade 11 season at Ballenas.
