From the day he started playing atom football as a young kid, Rylan Matters was old beyond his years, seemingly always one step ahead of his peers.
By the time he hit Grade 8, he'd earned the role as starting quarterback of the Duchess Park Condors senior high school team. He showed the ability early in his career to think on his feet, knowing when to scramble out of the pocket to run the ball on his own and when to rely on his powerful throwing arm to get the ball off quickly to an open receiver.
In his Grade 11 year, Matters got his first taste of junior football when the Vancouver Island Raiders invited him to their summer camp. He returned to Duchess Park in the fall and as the province's top-rated double-A varsity pivot he took the Condors to their first P.G. Bowl title in six years. In 2014, his senior year, the Condors repeated as Northern Conference champions and he went on to star in the 2015 Senior Bowl.
The following summer, Matters followed former Raiders head coach and Prince George native, Matt Blokker, to the Calgary Colts of the Prairie Junior Football Conference. As a rookie, Matters was the Colts' third-string quarterback while five-year veteran John Kiesman took most of the snaps.
Kiesman has now graduated the junior ranks. That leaves the Colts' starting job wide open and Matters is ready to take a run at it.
"We had a pretty good season last year and made it to the Prairie finals and this year our starting quarterback aged out so we're going to have a QB battle for the starting spot - whoever performs best gets the job," said Matters, who made the move to Calgary last weekend after receiving a youth excellence award from the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame Society.
The five-foot-10, 195-pound Matters came in to relieve Kiesman for a set of downs last year for his first regular-season action Sept. 26 against the Edmonton Huskies.
"(Compared to high school ball) it's definitely a different league speed-wise and learning new coverages, but adjusting to the speed is the biggest thing," said Matters, who turned 19 in March.
"I've learned how to be patient in the pocket, being calm. When I first got to Calgary I was probably a lot impatient and during the pre-season game I played you could tell. But throughout the season it got easier and I felt pretty confident in my position ending the season."
The Colts are on the field at McMahon Stadium this weekend for their rookie camp and Matters has been taking snaps from centre Jordan Cundy, a former Condor/Vancouver Island Raider, who joined the Colts this spring.
The Colts are unofficially a farm team for the powerhouse University of Calgary Dinos and Matters hopes to eventually make the jump to university football in the CIS. He looks back fondly on his stellar high school career and knows how much the Northern Conference has helped local football players move on to junior teams.
"High school was a great time, a lot of memories going back - I started playing in Grade 8 and watched all those players go through Duchess and a lot of friendships were built," he said.
While Matters was at Duchess Park, Condors coach Mike Rositano built the team's offensive schemes around his quarterback's passing arm, which helped Matters develop confidence in his game that has brought him to the next level.
"Our offence at Duchess really had a lot of throwing involved and that helped me make reads on defences while I was in Calgary," said Matters.
The Colts play their first preseason game Aug. 8 in Medicine Hat against the Regina Thunder.
Matters was among a dozen local athletes who received youth excellence awards for their high-level achievements in sports at the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony last weekend. Also on that list were: Meryeta O'Dine (snowboarding); Evan Bichon (snowboarding); Hallie Drezet (volleyball); Lavanna Laass (judo); Tyrell Laing (basketball); Hannah Esopenko (swimming); Jadyn Arnett (five-pin bowling); Josiah Binnema (swimming); Ryan Gaiesky (track and field); Tristina Howse (wrestling); and Brogan O'Brien (hockey).
"It's nice to be recognized and it's good to see other athletes across Prince George recognized, too. They're really deserving of it," said Matters. "It's good motivation to train harder and get better to maybe one day get into the Hall of Fame."
