Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
The York University Lions football program added some Hart to its defensive line on Tuesday afternoon.
Representatives from the Toronto-based university were in Napanee to announce Braden Hart had accepted a scholarship and would join the team next fall. Crammed into People Place at NDSS and surrounded by family, teammates, coaches and classmates while sitting at a table with his No. 91 Golden Hawks jersey affixed to the front, Hart officially put pen to paper to complete the signing.
“It’s really exciting,” said Hart, who completed his Grade 12 season with the Hawks last month. “I worked a really long time to get here.”
Hart has long been on the radar of several university programs, having already represented Team Ontario and will suit up for Team Canada’s U18 team in January for the International Bowl.
“This is a kid we’ve known about for a while,” said York football coach Warren Crane, who made the trip to Napanee to sign Hart.
“We’ve seen him play through his local club (Kingston Grenadiers) in the summer and then our coaches had the opportunity to work with him when he was trying out for Team Ontario and they came back from the tryout camp saying ‘Oh my gosh, you’ve got to see that kid from Napanee.’”
NDSS’ Braden Hart fired up after a big stop during a game earlier this season. Photo by Adam Prudhomme.
Impressed with his scouting report, Crane boarded a plane to see Hart play in person.
“I flew down to Calgary,” said Crane. “He was representing Team Ontario and I wanted to see him live. I spent the whole week there, watched three games and absolutely fell in love with him as a football player. He was dominant, I felt he was one of the top defensive players in the tournament and we left there saying this is a kid we got to have.”
Crane said a meeting with the Hart family in Napanee sealed the deal.
“Just getting to know what an incredible family they are and then coming down to do a home visit and getting to know his mom, it was just one of those things where you just know someone’s going to change your program,” said Crane. “Aside from the football ability, he’s just a great person. You can see the leadership qualities in him. It was a no-brainer for us.”
Hart will be joining a defensive line that had its struggles last year, as the team went 3-5 and missed the OUA playoffs for a 14th straight year.
“We’re going to put a lot of expectations on him,” said Crane. “We’re going to expect leadership and dominance from the second he walks into our room. It’s an exciting time for us.”
Hart, who was recruited by several schools, says the fact that York was willing to taylor their game plan to his skill set was a huge draw.
“It was really the feeling when I went there,” Hart said of what led to him choosing the Lions. “They had posters of me up on the jumbotron, I really felt that they wanted me. The environment on the campus just seemed really nice and the players seemed really chill with it. I asked some of the players who were redshirted during the game some questions and it just seemed like everything they were telling me was the truth.”
Hart, who played his Grade 9, 10, and 12 seasons with NDSS, says the high school program helped prepare him for the mental side of the game. He often drew up defensive plays with the coaching staff. When it came to getting accustomed to they physical side of the game, he said his time with Team Ontario was great for that aspect.
“It’s special to be able to say you came from Napanee and made it this far,” said Hart. “Not a lot of guys have done that. I hope for the guys that are on the junior team, it’s giving them something to look up to and see that it is a possibility.”
Hart says he’ll be studying business on a five-year program at York with plans toward taking over the family farm.
Prior to that however he’s hoping to go as far as he can with football.