Cornwall’s Colby Delves a Team Canada gold winner at football worlds

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A long-time Cornwall Wildcats football star had an unforgettable experience recently on a world stage.

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Colby Delves, who was a late addition last month to the Team Canada 1 roster, competed at the U20 world championships in Edmonton – and he contributed to a gold-medal victory.

“It just felt amazing,” said Delves, 18, a former lanky wide receiver who beefed up at the gym and converted to a defensive end this season. “It’s only the second championship I’ve been a part of (including the National Capital Amateur Football Association A cup victory for Cornwall in 2015). That was a while ago, I was a kid – this felt different.

“It was great to be a part of that and to do it for my country made it even more special.”

The former St. Joseph’s Secondary School student and his national squad teammates defeated Japan 20-9 in the final of the International Federation of American Football event played in Edmonton, with contests held at both Commonwealth Stadium and Clarke Stadium.

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“To walk into that stadium, it was unreal,” said Delves of 56,000-seat Commonwealth Stadium, longtime home of the CFL’s Edmonton Elks.

Canada played in three games at the event, and Delves recorded a sack in each of the contests, to go with several assisted tackles.

And, he did it all with family members and several other supporters in the stands, including his parents Jennifer and Jason and sister Sarah.

“That was really nice to have family there,” Delves said. “It’s just not the same as when you’re watching something back home. . . it’s nice to look back to (the seating area) and see family behind you.”

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Delves said he was very impressed with the overall skill level at the tournament; that Canada was strong was not a surprise, and the country has now won the crown three times in a row.

The soft spot on Canada’s schedule was an opening game against Brazil, a 110-0 result, with Delves noting that football – the North American style version, at least – is fairly new to that culture.

Things quickly got tougher against a perennial European champ or contender, Austria, and Canada pulled out a 27-20 semifinal win. The final potentially could have a been a North American showdown, but Japan blasted the United States 41-20 in the other semifinal.

“I was expecting Japan would be really good – and they were,” Delves said. “They have a lot of universities, a lot of (good players).”

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Other participants included Canada 2, Panama, and Australia.

Delves, a student at Algonqjuin College in Ottawa, currently plays for Cornwall in the Ontario Summer Football League U18 Division AAA.

Wildcats organization president Kirby Camplin said Delves is one of the top all-around athletes to have come out of the program. Delves is 235 pounds, 6-foot-3-inches, and he’s fast, turning in a 4.85-second 40-yard dash.

Established in 2009, the IFAF Junior World Championship takes place every two years. To date, Canada holds the most number of championship wins with four.

Back home, the Wildcats won a 31-7 game against the Scarborough Thunder on July 6, losing a 30-20 game in Kingston against the Grenadiers on July 13.

As of Monday the team was in third in the OSFL’s East division with a 5-3 record. It has them set up for a first-round quarterfinal playoff matchup against the 7-1 Hamilton Jr. Ticats. The game is scheduled for Saturday, July 20— likely in Hamilton given the teams’ records.

The winner of the quarterfinal advances to play the winner of the Durham Dolphins vs. Cambridge Lions on July 27 in Windsor, Ont.

thambleton@postmedia.com

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