Sudbury football player chooses school first over football

For many athletes, their sports can change them.

For better or worse.

Mitch Portelance isn’t one of these athletes.

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Portelance has played football for nearly half of his 19 years on this planet. The game means everything to the rugged and stocky linebacker.

He played the last two seasons with a shoulder brace. He would have played with two broken legs because he loves the game that much.

The game allowed Portelance a chance to find out what kind of man he was. It didn’t transform him into something he wasn’t.

The game allowed him to be who he was and grow confidence in that aspect of his life. Coaches call him a “natural born leader” and Portelance took great pride in being a player counted on to lead and set the example.

“Football takes a lot of hard work, both physically and mentally,” he said. “By playing for so many years it became second nature to me to be a leader both on and off the field. Football didn’t change me, it just became a part of me. Football taught me discipline and gave me a true understanding of the game and what it takes to win. I’ve become the person I am today by not giving up. When people told me I was too short or too slow, I just worked harder to prove myself. Football taught me to push my physical limits to where I thought I never could go.”

Portelance just wrapped up his high school and club careers this year with The St. Benedict Bears high school squad and the Sudbury Gladiators club. He was an all-star player in high school and a respected player in the Ontario Football Conference.

A host of players, and some of Portelance’s best friends, from the high school and Gladiators ranks have moved on from the city to pursue their dreams at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport level.

Portelance wasn’t one of them. He’s attending Cambrian College and taking the paramedic course. This by no way means Portelance is done with football. He isn’t “quitting.”

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Portelance received his share of offers from universities to try out. He turned down the offers and stood his ground in the face of peer pressure to make up his own mind in what the next step in his life was going to be.

He isn’t the type of person to be persuaded into doing something he doesn’t want to. If Portelance doesn’t want to do something, he simply will not do it regardless of who is asking — at 5-foot-10 and 220-pounds, along with being as tough as nails, it’s quick to see why it makes more sense to argue with a bull moose during the rutting season.

Facing one of the biggest decisions in his life, not just football, Portelance wasn’t about to change. It isn’t his nature.

And just like his instincts have been right in football, Portelance knows following his instincts in life, now more than ever, will only serve him better in the future when he takes on the university game when he’s ready for it.

The decision to step away from the game wasn’t easy. There were some long nights for Portelance since making the decision to stay at home and pursue an educational goal as opposed to an athletic goal. Overall, it’s fairly simple what Portelance plans to do. He wants to improve his grades and then take his crack at the university game.

“For the next little while, yes, I will not be playing football,” he said.

“It bugs me. It will be hard to get used to. A lot of friends are gone to training camps. It’s kind of depressing I’m really the only one back here. That’s life. I have to deal with it. At the end of the day, it’s about school for me. I have the university credits, but my marks are low. I know I’m physically ready to play university football, but I also know I am not mentally ready to be a university student. You can’t let other people make decisions for you. I made this decision. In high school, I fooled around when it came to school. I didn’t try as hard as I could have. I actually want to see what kind of student I really can be. I want to improve my marks and then go to university.”

And going to a try out for the university football team will be automatic for Portelance once he makes the jump to the next level.

“I would try out right away,” he said. “I definitely want to see how I size up and see what I can do. I will keep in shape. I’ve been playing long enough, I know what to do.”

Portelance, like hundreds of players, got his start in the Joe Macdonald Youth Football League at the age of 11. He took to the game like a loon takes to the water and developed a love for the game instantly.

Portelance climbed through the ranks to become one of the most menacing defensive players in the high school and provincial club leagues. He also became captain of his respective teams.

Not a towering giant or the fastest blur on the field, Portelance got the job done with his desire, heart and willingness to hurl his robust frame into the path of any oncoming opponent, regardless of size or consequence.

“He was a natural born leader,” Gladiators head coach Brent Richer said. “He doesn’t demand respect, he earns it on the field. He’s a hard worker and great person. The coaches, the players, there was nothing but respect for him. He knew when it was time to buckle down or when to be a bit lighter and have some fun. He was a captain that was like a coach. He was an intelligent player. You never had to tell Mitch he did something wrong in a drill. He knew what to do … an excellent football mind. You get players like this only once in a long time.”

Portelance was a heart and soul player for the Gladiators and Bears. He hit to hurt and left it all out on the field.

“He loved his team and his teammates,” Richer said. “He would do anything for the team. He puts the team before himself. He was a captain and for good reason. He was a true leader. He doesn’t like it when I call him this, but I call him a Coca-Cola machine on feet. He just runs over and through players. He was running over guys who played in the CIS in the summer.”

St. Benedict head coach Frank Rocca has known Portelance since he took a tour of the school as a Grade 8 student. Rocca played CIS and Canadian Football League football and, without hesitation, says Portelance could play at the next level.

“There’s no kid that did more, football-wise, during his high school career than Mitch,” Rocca said. “He set the standard and there was no off season for that kid. He was passionate about football. People ran away from him because he hit so hard. Absolutely, without question, he could play CIS football. He’s a great kid and any team in the CIS would love to have him. No one gave more for the team than Mitch.”

For Portelance, the game provided the opportunity to expand his “family.” The coaches, teammates, managers and fans all became extensions of Portelance’s family. This is why he played so hard and even hurt. He didn’t want to let down his family.

“What can I say about the guys? They’re like family,” he said. “The sport itself is awesome, but there is nothing better than being able to play along side your best friends. All my coaches over the years my appreciation for what they taught me.”

By SCOTT HADDOW