Not following in his brother’s footsteps
Norwood District High’s Silas Hubert commits to play football for the Queen’s Gaels and will be on the gridiron against bro Owen, who plays for Mac
Silas Hubert is forging his own path.
Queen’s Gaels football announced this week the Norwood District High School student and Peterborough Wolverines defensive end has committed to their program for this fall.
Hubert, 18, opted not to join brother Owen Hubert who plays for the McMaster Marauders.
“I thought about creating my own path and going my own way,” said the six-foot-five, 280pound Silas. “It’s been a running joke, more or less, that I’ve been in my brother’s shadow following him around. I always played the same sports he did and followed in his footsteps. I didn’t make my decision based off that, but it was definitely part of the consideration.”
He said, with a laugh, every sport he tried came after seeing Owen, who is two years older, play it. Only once did they play on the same team, in 2019 with the senior varsity Wolverines.
He learned some lessons watching his brother go through the recruiting process and said it was a special moment sealing his commitment.
“It meant a lot after a few years of playing ball and having all this come true. It meant things are paying off,” he said.
Hubert, who lives in Hastings, said he narrowed his choice to Queen’s, McMaster, Laurier and Windsor.
“It was really Queen’s that stuck out,” he said. “It was never really what other schools didn’t have, it was more of what Queen’s had. They have a great alumni, a great coaching staff, a great school, great academic programs. What it really came down to was the coaching staff. They really want to better their student-athletes, not just make them better football players but make them better human beings.”
Rick Thompson has coached Hubert at Norwood and with the Wolverines.
“He’s a great student, really dedicated to the sport,” Thompson said.
“He’s always looking to get better and figure out what skills and techniques he can improve on. He’s one of those classic students of the game. He wants to understand why he’s doing it and how it fits into the game.”
He’s also athletic for his size, Thompson said.
“He has a lot of transferable skills that are going to help him. He’s versatile and Queen’s is talking about him playing some defensive end and defensive tackle with that speed and length.”
The Gaels finished 3-5 in Steve Snyder’s first season as head coach in 2019.
“Queen’s is a fairly young team and there is only one way to go when you’re playing with a young team that is 3-5 once everybody matures. This year was a good recruiting class, so hopefully the Yates and Vanier Cup are in sight,” Hubert said.
“Their coaching staff is a lot of younger guys and they bring good energy. I really liked that.”
Hubert toured Queen’s in 2019.
“Kingston is a great city. It’s not too big, it’s not too small. It was never scary thinking about going to the GTA or a bigger city but I’m more comfortable with a Peterborough- or Kingstonsized city,” Hubert said. “It’s not a home school by any means because it’s still 90 minutes away, but it’s the closest school. I can come home for a weekend. That definitely helped.
“It had a great atmosphere. They have a great alumni and great support. Their facility and new stadium are top notch.”
Hubert grew up playing hockey in Norwood, rep soccer in Peterborough and in high school played basketball, football and track and field.
His father, Patrick, who moved the family from the U.S. when Silas was three, played high school football and is a Minnesota Vikings fan. The boys grew up watching football and are also Vikings fans but didn’t start playing the sport until high school. That’s when Silas got hooked.
“I was a stereotypical Canadian kid thinking I was going to play in the NHL one day. I was in love with hockey and that was the dream. Then football came around and opportunities started to present themselves,” Hubert said.
“My first year of Wolverines I didn’t play much,” he added. “In my second year, I flourished and was a team captain. We were 8-2 that year and lost in the playoffs, but that season really did it for me. That’s when I thought football is the way I want to go.”
He played 12-a-side at Norwood as a junior and joined the Wolverines after his Grade 9 season. As a senior, he played six-a-side football, which he believes helped his athleticism.
“Six-a-side football is really an athletic game. There aren’t as many line-to-line battles. It’s more like a skill-position battle. It allows you to play a skill position, which increased my coordination, movement skills, ball handling, open field tackles. I played every position,” he said.
Hubert is going to study environmental studies, following in the footsteps of parents Patrick and Kristina. They both work for the Ministry of Natural Resources.