Now Honorary Chair of
“Sharing Sport Together” campaign
By Darren
Steinke
Gordie Howe Sports Complex
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| Jorgen Hus coaches players at Playground To Pros in April. |
The
34-year-old Saskatoon product is the veteran long snapper for the Saskatchewan
Roughriders, and he has a lengthy history with city’s storied sports park. Hus
played for the football program at St. Joseph’s High School taking part in
games at Saskatoon Minor Football Field from 2003 to 2006.
He moved on
to play three seasons with the CJFL’s powerhouse Saskatoon Hilltops from 2007
to 2009. The Hilltops have played their home games at SMF Field since 1960. After
becoming a member of the Roughriders in 2015, Hus kept returning to SMF Field
as the CFL squad began to regularly hold its annual “Green and White Day” there
starting in 2016.
Making a
career away from football as a mortgage broker in his hometown, Hus does all
his off-season training in Saskatoon. Once the Indoor Training Centre opened on
March 1, 2019 on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds, Hus was able to work
on his long snapping on the field turf field and do conditioning training at Ignite
Athletics.
“This park in general has been a huge part of my life,” said
Hus, who helped the Hilltops win a CJFL title in 2007. “It has supported my
career and being able to come here in the winters has just helped my career out
in so many ways.
“It is pretty incredible what we have here. I just think I
wish I had something like this when I was starting high school. I’m curious to
see how things would have gone, and if they would have gone any different.
“It is a state-of-the-art facility, and these kids that get to come now they have no idea how good they have it. This is one of the top places in Canada, if not the best as far as I’m concerned. I have a lot of memories here, and a lot of opportunity.”
Knowing the impact the Complex has made on his football career, Hus thought it was natural to take on the role as Honorary Campaign Chair for the “Sharing Sport Together” campaign. That campaign overseen by Friends of the Bowl has a goal of raising $10-million to compete the final upgrades for the Complex grounds. Hus was honoured when he was presented with the opportunity to be the Honorary Campaign Chair.
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| Jorgen Hus works on long snapping at the Indoor Training Centre. |
“It continues to do even more. With the opportunities that
are right there, anything that I can do to help that come to fruition is going
to help the dreams of the next kid, the next generation be fulfilled. It is all
possible.
“It was a no brainer for me.”
Johnny Marciniuk, who is the Operations Manager for the Gordie
Howe Sports Complex Management Incorporated, was excited that Hus came on board
to be the Honorary Campaign Chair for the “Sharing Sport Together” campaign.
Marciniuk was pleased Hus took up the role, because of the positive history he
has in Saskatoon’s sports scene.
“It is awesome to have Jorgen as our Honourary Campaign
Chair as he is a successful local boy who played sports in our high school and
junior system in the province,” said Marciniuk. “He is a role model for
professional football players as well as young boys and girls and adults to strive
to achieve their goals.
“What is even better is all of our clients young and old can
end up walking side by side with him in our facilities as he uses them on a
daily basis, which brings a sense of community to everyone. Lastly, Jorgen is a
business man, husband, father and gentleman. We couldn’t be prouder to have him
associated with our campaign.”
Hus said some of his earliest memories of playing football
in Grade 9 was being able to get out of class early to catch the bus to come
down to SMF Field. From there, he built more memories playing against buddies
from elementary school who suited up for Evan Hardy Collegiate. The high school
post-season inevitably seemed to lead to a showdown with Holy Cross High
School.
Playing for either St. Joseph’s or the Hilltops,
recollections piled up of playing on the old grass surface at SMF Field when it
would eventually become a mud bowl often late in the season.
“There are definitely a few games there where you can’t even tell anybody’s number,” said Hus. “There are just so many games that have been like that.
“I can’t even like pick one out. There was definitely a lot
of them. Those were the most fun games.
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| Jorgen Hus works with youngsters at a clinic in February. |
Since 2014, the mud bowl became a thing of the past as a
field turf field was installed. With the turf field that exists at the Indoor
Training Centre, Hus has been impressed with the number of different camps and
programs Saskatoon Minor Football offers thanks to the increased field time. He
is a regular when it comes to coaching with SMF’s Playground To Pros Camp.
“All the camps and stuff that are going on now, obviously,
they weren’t around when I was coming out of college,” said Hus, who helps
coach long snappers at various levels of the game in Saskatoon. “I don’t even
know if the CFL combine had lasers when I came out.
“There is definitely more opportunity. Now even with the indoor
facilities that we have, we can go throughout the winter. There are no excuses.
“There is a time all year round. We don’t have to wait for
the good weather.”
Hus said he has improved quite a bit working on the craft of
his position since the Indoor Training Centre opened.
“I’ve had two all-star seasons since being able to work in
this place and having the winters to do this,” said Hus. “It is no coincidence.
“I’ve been able to practice on good turf all year round essentially all winter. It has been huge for my career, massive.”
Along with improving for his sport, Hus has enjoyed meeting the numerous athletes that come to the Complex to train and improve in various other sports. He has found those athletes have developed a feeling of attachment to the Complex like he has. Hus said seeing the drive of the other athletes helps his drive.
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| Jorgen Hus speaks at the Hilltops End Zone Dinner on Sept. 30, 2023. |
“That is why I love coming here. I’ll be a client forever
after the football career is done. It is pretty special.
“There are not a lot of places where you can see that and get
that out of people.”
