Nominated by: Edmonton Wildcat Football Club
Nomination: The Edmonton Wildcats are nominating Keaton Hoddinott (#42) for the Past Commissioners Award.
Background/Justification: Keaton is a fifth year Wildcat, and has been a strong example of what it means to be a team leader, both on and off the field. Keaton showed strong leadership skills right away, and was asked to join the Leadership Committee part way through his rookie season. He has remained on the Leadership Committee for the previous four seasons.
Keaton is the first the cheer his teammates on, help them when they need it, and is trusted and reached out to for advice by everyone – not just his peers in his individual unit. While he is one of the more vocal leaders on the team, his actions still speak louder than his words. Keaton arrives early to every practice, and is often seen helping the younger players either by helping them to understand their playbook, or going through film and answering questions/offering advice. Keaton is viewed by the other players as not only a teammate, but a friend and a mentor.
In the off-season, Keaton shows his leadership by attending every work out and team event. In 2013 the Wildcats launched the “In The Community” initiative, which aimed to get the players involved with some of the local charities in the Edmonton area. Keaton immediately took ownership of the program and took on a role as the player coordinator. He not only attended all of the events, but was instrumental in reaching out to his teammates and encouraging them to take part, as well as meeting with his teammates and finding out community initiatives they would like to take part in. Some of these events included a Habitat For Humanity build, stocking shelves at the Edmonton Food Bank, visiting children in the Ronald McDonald House, and running a Flag Football Camp with the Rundle Park Big Brothers/Big Sisters group. Keaton has also volunteered and spoken on behalf of the Wildcats at the West Edmonton Christian Assembly’s career day about what it takes to become a football player.
Keaton has been a core member of the Wildcats leadership for his entire CJFL career, and has been a very strong role model on how to be a good representative of Junior Football, both on and off the field.
Keaton’s commitment to community was exemplified in an article run in the Edmonton Journal newspaper – following is the link to the article (published September 19, 2014): http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Wildcats+players+into+program+help+good+causes/10219861/story.html
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