Estevan's Troy Leptich will be playing his home games in a bit of a different environment than he has for the last few years.
Leptich will play at Investors Group Field with the Prairie Football Conference's Winnipeg Rifles this season, and he'll have to move the Manitoba capital quickly after graduating from Estevan Comprehensive School this month. The veteran Elecs offensive lineman, 6'2” doesn't know exactly where he'll play on the line when he gets there.
“I'm guessing it's most likely going to be left tackle since they don't have a left tackle currently,” he said. “It's not based on preference. It's just based on where they want to put me. I've played both guard and tackle, both sides of the ball, left and right.”
Leptich had a friend in football from Moosomin who had heard the Rifles were looking to recruit some linemen.
“I emailed the coach and asked them what they're all about,” Leptich said. “I went to their first tryouts and they liked what they saw. They kept messaging me to come back and keep evaluating me as a player. They wanted to pick me up after this.”
Junior football is limited to players under 22, and for the best of the best, can be stepping-stone to the CFL, university football or both. Getting serious about playing after high school was because of some of his idols, like Weyburn's Brendon LaBatte, who was drafted from the University of Regina to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“Looking up to him, saying he's a small-town boy from Weyburn and he worked his butt off to get where he wanted to be,” Leptich said of the current Roughrider guard. “That made me want to be that kind of person as well. My coaches have been encouraging me because of my size. I'm a little bit more dominant on the field.
Under head coach Geordie Wilson, the Rifles finished the season 2-7 last year, in fifth place just a couple of games behind the Regina Prairie Thunder.
The Rifles open the 2017 PFC season Aug. 12 against the Ottawa Sooners, their first and only non-conference game of the year. Playoffs start on the Oct. 15 weekend.
The team has sent him the kind of off-season training that they want to see him and the rest of the team doing.
“My parents were always behind me throughout everything,” said Leptich. “They preferred me to pursue football but they (encouraged) me to do what I wanted to.”
Once in Winnipeg and aside from football, he will focus on working in the trades and put in hours to help him get into automotive trade school once he does hit the books again.
“I'm either going to be heavy-duty mechanics, or mechanics, or auto body technician,” Leptich said.
University football isn't a likely scenario for him.
“I always grew up working on vehicles with my dad or doing something in the shop. So I grew up around automotives and I figured that our high school offers comprehensive courses so we have auto body mechanics,” he said. “Through those courses, it made me actually stick with automotives.” It wasn't so far that I wanted to go to university. I wanted to keep playing football to have the opportunity to learn the trades I want to do.”
That doesn't mean he wants his football career to end with the Rifles at the ripe old age of 22 in a few years.
“I want to go all the way and make it to the CFL or play in the NFL. That'd be my end goal.”
Leptich mentioned Preston Majeran, Phil Zajac, Chris Bayerle and Elecs head coach Mark Shott as big coaching influences on him.
