A chilly game of catch with dad on the frozen field at Harrison Trimble High School(opens in a new tab) in Moncton is a long way from playing under the sunny skies of Rome, Italy, but that will soon be the case for Ben Fontaine.
The 17-year-old, who currently studies at and plays for Harrison Trimble High School, is headed to the Rome City Institute next year to study and play American football with other elite international student athletes.
The opportunity still hasn’t sunk in yet for his mom Kristen Garland.
“I’m sure I’m going to be a mess but I’m really excited for him to live out his dreams and be able to play in Italy. It’s a great opportunity and it’s going to open so many doors for him,” said Kristen.
Fontaine’s parents signed him up with a recruiting agency last year and they travelled to the United States and western Canada.
He wasn’t sure where he would end up.
“I went to a whole bunch of camps in the summer, so I was thinking I was going to go to one of those (schools) like Ohio, New York, maybe even Texas, but Rome was not on my mind at all,” said Ben.
Fontaine’s father, Tom Garland, is caught off-guard by the opportunity too.
“In the recruiting app we got a message from Rome, which we at first thought could be like Rome, New York or wherever. We didn’t expect that at all,” said Tom.
Fontaine is looking forward to playing American football overseas, but he’s also excited about travelling around Europe.
The honour student will be studying sports management and will get a high quality education, as well as the experience of a lifetime.
“He’s going to be with people that are travelling away from home, so it’s going to be a lot easier for him to integrate into the school because it’s all people like him and people with like-minded goals,” said Tom.
His girlfriend Libby Thebeau knew he would be leaving home, but she wasn’t expecting this.
“It was very, very surprising. I didn’t know Rome was that big on football,” said Thebeau. “I knew probably the States, but never that far.”
Harrison Trimble head coach Mark Teed said Ben moved into the starting quarterback role in Grade 11 and that seemed to motivate him to strengthen all aspects of his game.
“He trained very hard over the summer heading to this season and attended a number of camps,” said Teed. “He played a big leadership role as a team captain also. We all wish him continued success with this amazing opportunity.”
His games will be streamed online, so even though he’s a world away, his folks will still be able to watch, but everyone will miss the high school game day experience.
“The culture and the brotherhood you form at Trimble,” said Ben. “Everyone really got to know each other.”
Kristen said it was a lot of fun watching him play over the years.
“He has such a great time on the field. It’s exciting. I looked forward to Friday night lights every week,” said Kristen.
Tom and Kristen will drop Fontaine off in August, but he’ll definitely be home for the holidays next year.
Fontaine plans on going to school in Rome for four years, but when he returns he’ll still be eligible to play college football in North America, which is something he hasn’t ruled out.
Source: https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/high-school-quarterback-from-moncton-set-to-play-in-rome-italy-next-year-1.6698979