Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

For a guy who didn’t plan to play football after high school, Jeff Bolen is doing pretty well for himself.

The 20-year-old Regina Thunder kicker led the Canadian Junior Football League with a 40.9-yard (gross) punting average and a 33.5-yard net average in 2007 and was named an all-Canadian. He also finished sixth in the Prairie Football Conference with 531 receiving yards and five touchdowns.

All that earned him an invite to this year’s Saskatchewan Roughriders training camp.

“Coming out of Grade 12, I never would have dreamt this,” Bolen said after Thursday’s training session at Mosaic Stadium. “Growing up in Regina and being a life-long Rider fan, it’s really something to be out here.”

As such, playing in the big time took a little getting used to for Bolen.

“When I got my equipment and my helmet, that was a big deal,” Bolen said. “Then I got out on the field with the vets and it was something else. I’ve spent the last few years watching them so it’s special to be out here with them.

“Once you get to know the guys, that goes away a bit. But still, they’re guys you’ve been watching for awhile.”

The whole experience was especially remarkable for Bolen since he planned to end his football career when he graduated from LeBoldus High School in 2005. He only tried out for the Thunder when he read about the team’s need for a kicker in the Leader-Post.

Even after he made the team, soccer came first in Bolen’s life. He skipped late-season Thunder games to attend soccer games that first season, but he soon developed a greater devotion to football that has been paying off in spades.

Bolen was originally supposed to attend last week’s rookie camp as a punter and receiver, but didn’t expect to be catching passes during main camp. That changed last Friday.

“At first playing receiver, I thought I was in over my head and probably still am,” Bolen admitted. “But I’m out there trying and getting some reps and things are getting better. From when I walked in to now it’s like night and day. I know so much more now than when I got here.”

Read More…