CARSONS GOING BACK TO THE OKANAGAN

Offensive line coach Paul Carson and his son, offensive tackle Sam Carson, are going to familiar territory when the University of Calgary Dinos and University of British Columbia Thunderbirds meet in a pre-season U Sports football game on August 24 at Greater Vernon Athletic Park at 7 PM. The game is officially called the Kal Tire Kalamalka Bowl. Further information can be seen on the website https://kalbowl.com/

“This is a great opportunity for me to see a lot of people I know from the Okanagan football community,” stated the Paul who was heavily involved in the sport while residing in Kelowna for 14 years. Paul was involved with the Okanagan Sun of the British Columbia Junior Football Conference as offensive line coach for seven years and President for three before moving to Calgary in 2015. “I was even Head Coach for a playoff game in 2012,” Paul stated who was part of the Sun’s staff when they lost in the 2014 Canadian Championship to the Edmonton Wildcats.

Sam is going back to where he started football, almost. He was born in Kelowna and started playing youth football in the Kelowna Minor Football Association as an eight year old playing in Kelowna, Vernon and elsewhere in the region before the family relocated to Calgary in 2015. Sam is the second Carson to play for the Dinos, with older brother Matt playing five years from 2012 to 2016.

Paul has coached and Sam has played in Vernon. “We were not very successful in Vernon. They always beat us,” joked Paul who coached minor football for three years when Sam played. The pre-season game marks the first time Paul has coached and Sam will play at GVAP though they have driven by the facility numerous times.

Sam, who started as a freshman at offensive tackle in 2021, is anxious to play in the Okanagan in front of many former teammates and friends from Kelowna that plan on attending the game.

The contest marks the first time that the Dinos have played in Vernon and just the second time they have had a non-conference game in the team’s 58 years in the BC Interior. The Dinos previously play Simon Fraser University in Kamloops in 2006.