A total of 12 Cochrane football players have advanced to either the final selection camp for the U18 Team Alberta or to one of three Calgary area U16 teams competing in the Alberta Summer Games.

Six members of the Cochrane High Cobras are among the 100 players who will be competing for a position on the U18 team that will represent Alberta at the national championship in July. The final camp is being held in Red Deer from May 10 to 21, where both Team Alberta and Team Blue will be selected. Team Blue will be competing in a Western Showcase, also in July.

Advancing are linebacker Jesse Groot, offensive lineman Caleb Wetherall and defensive backs Brayden Chamberlin, Hudson Hallden, Emery Stevenson, and Bodie Van de Kratts.

Defensive back Hudson Hallden, 16, is one of the players who advanced from the first camp.

"There was a high level of competition at that camp and I'm very excited I was able to stack up," says Hallden. "It's very exciting to see that because of the coaching we've received, we've had multiple players make this camp, so it just shows how well we've been coached and the quality of the program at Cochrane High."

Like many of the players selected, Hallden was introduced to the sport at a young age through Cochrane minor football.

"I've been playing since Atoms Lions, so since I was barely able to keep my head in the helmet."

He started as a linebacker but went on to become a defensive back.

Should he advance to Team Alberta, he will have yet another highlight to add to the many with the Cochrane Cobras. Right now, last season's run at the tier one provincial championship ranks at the top.

"To be able to go as far as we did in tier one and like have some of the first ever tier one wins for the program was just like unbelievable," says Hallden.

But even the minor details of playing football at Cochrane High makes football a sport of passion.

"Even just the practices being out there every day with my team and my coaches, like it all adds up. It's an amazing experience."

Alberta Summer Games selections

Six Cochrane players have been named to one of three U16 Calgary metro teams for the Alberta Summer Games.

Tyler Clazie and Mason Fischer-Lynn will be playing for the Colts, Cooper Barden and Dawson Rodney for the Stampeders, and Jackson Hughes and Hunter Thompson for the Dinos.

Tim Enger, executive director of Football Alberta explains each team will play three games spread over time. Round one takes place in Red Deer on the May Long Weekend and a second round will follow. How they perform in the preliminary rounds will determine who they will meet at Okotoks during the Alberta Summer Games and whether they'll be competing for a medal.