THE LONG WINDING ROUND TO DINOS FOOTBALL
- Neumann's Notes
- Sep 30, 2021
- 3 min read
Chimzy Tasie has taken a long winding road to Calgary. He also has a unique story on how he managed to take up the sport of football. Tasie was born in Nigeria. Prior to settling in Calgary Chimzy and his family lived in England, went back to Nigeria, then Memphis, Tennessee, eventually settling in Calgary in middle of the June 2013 flood.
When Chimzy was a Grade 11 student at Lester Pearson High School his team did not have enough players so they merged with two other schools competing in Division III High School football. Tasie knew nothing about the sport until a friend urged him to accompany him on a Calgary transit bus to play football. When he arrived at football practice, he did not know how to put the equipment on let alone the rules of the game, but what he did like was the comradery.
“I am a people person and this (football) was a way to make more friends,” stated the personable fourth year Sciences student whose mother is a nurse and father a businessman.
In his senior year of High School Lester Pearson had enough players to field their own team. An excellent athlete, Tasie was his school’s Athlete of the Year in Grades 10 and 12 playing basketball and rugby in addition to football.
So how did Tasie wind up with the Dinos despite having never played youth football and just two years of High School football from a Division III program? A rival high school coach in Division III told Dinos recruiting coordinator Matt Berry he saw a potential player from the Patriots (Lester Pearson High School). Berry saw Tasie’s athleticism on the football field and basketball court and made him a U Sports offer that Tasie signed. Tasie “red-shirted” his first year and spent nearly all the 2018 season injured before seeing action in 2019.
Chimzy did not know one could combine football with a post-secondary education. “I knew nothing about the Dinos, U Sports offers, and did not know football and the U of C went together,” stated the Math and Computer Sciences major. A friend told him to put highlights on HUDL which led to multiple offers but Tasie had already committed to Calgary. A U Sports academic all-Canadian Tasie has received several athletic and academic awards at the U of C. He hopes to play football professionally and outside of football pursue a career in the computer software field.
Chimzy is one of many players on the Dinos with a diverse background. “I am from Nigeria, we have people here (on the Dinos) from other African nations, Haiti, Muslim, Indigenous, many backgrounds, football is a sport no matter your body size a spot is there for you,” Tasie added.
Tasie’s admires current Montreal Alouettes running back and former Dino Jeshrun Antwi as well as a former High School teammate in Grade 10, BC Lions receiver, Jevon Cottoy. He hopes to be a role model for other players from a similar background. “My aim is to get better each day on the field and in the gym. People now see I am starter and playing, others from my part of town and background can do the same,” stated the 6’3”, 275 lbs. Tasie, who is one of two graduates from Lester Pearson on the team, the other being offensive lineman, John Bosse.
Fellow defensive lineman Josh Hyer has played with Tasie for four years. “Chimzy is a great guy and awesome teammate. You can be having a bad day and he is always around to lift you up,” Hyer stated.
Berry appreciates Tasie’s value to the team. “He was a big contributor to our National Championship team in 2019 and we look for bigger things in 2021,” Berry states. “Chimzy is a great team member in the locker room and on the field. His outgoing personality is appreciated by all and he goes out of his way to make the new players welcome,” adds Berry.
Chimzy Tasie is proving the inclusivity of Dinos football, no matter the background the individual is from.
Comments