PHOTO: Chantal Zdan
One word comes to mind for University of Manitoba Bisons head coach Brian Dobie when discussing receiver Dylan Schrot.
“Mature,” began Dobie this past weekend while watching his squad at their spring camp. “He’s very mature.”
“It’s great when you’re dealing with young men who have that sense of maturity and professionalism about them.”
One look at Schrot’s football career confirms Dobie’s assessment.
The Winnipeg native was a standout with the Sisler Spartans in high school, but chose to hone his game in the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) after graduation.
His first destination was Vancouver Island of the British Columbia Football Conference (BCFC). In 2013, he was named the team’s receiver of the year and was on a path towards continued football success.
At the end of the season, he, along with a handful of teammates, chose to follow head coach Matt “Snoop” Blokker to the Prairie Football Conference (PFC), after Blokker made the move to Calgary to coach the Colts.
PHOTO: Chantal Zdan
But in an unfortunate turn of events, Schrot was forced to sit out the 2014 season due to transfer issues. Instead of getting down on the situation, he continued to train in order to be prepared for the following season.
Unfortunately, his comeback didn’t go as planned as he tore his ACL and missed the entire 2015 campaign as well. Again, Schrot didn’t think about the negatives. Instead, he got a job as a personal trainer, which helped him learn how to take care of the body and “ensure that [ACL tear] type of injury doesn’t happen again.”
Schrot was finally able to make his debut with the Colts last season and didn’t disappoint. He was named the conference’s most outstanding receiver and also earned a nod as a CJFL All-Canadian.
Schrot was the picture of humility when asked about his accolades after fighting through significant adversity.
“You just have to really stay positive and keep moving forward with things,” he said.
Schrot’s play didn’t go unnoticed by Blokker, who recommended Dobie take a look at the Manitoba product.
Dobie met with Schrot twice when he was in Calgary during the season and also communicated over the phone. In January, Schrot decided the time was right to return to Manitoba and committed to play for the Bisons in 2017.
“Even though it is back home, he (Schrot) has his life in Calgary so he had to make a bit of a life decision,” Dobie said.
“At age 22, it’s not going to be a rest of his life decision but it’s a decision at this point in time that he had to do a lot of thinking about for a lot of reasons, and I’m glad he chose us for sure.”
At spring camp last weekend, there were a number of positions in the receiving corps up for grabs, but Schrot didn’t dwell on the possibility of starting immediately. Instead, he stayed humble.
“It’s been great just to be out here competing again and doing what you love, I’m just really happy for the opportunity to come out.”
