Sprinting Toward Success

Chuba Hubbard, a speedster from Sherwood Park, Alberta, has always been a dynamic figure for opponents and spectators.

He first got into football when he was in sixth grade after a friend who lived down the street from his grandfather piqued the track star’s interest. His straight-line running ability lent itself quickly to the gridiron game, and he really only needed to run two plays to be successful — the wide receiver reverse and taking the snap out of the ‘Wildcat’ formation.

Before he picked up his first pigskin, Hubbard blazed past his competition on the track, where he was a three-time national champion for his age group in the 100 meters and a former competitor at the IAAF World Youth Championships.

But that first day with his friends on the football field flipped the script of Hubbard’s life for the years that followed.

“I just remember how much fun I had playing football growing up and was always just enjoying it with my friends,” Hubbard said of his early football memories. “You’re so innocent when you’re young, and you don’t have any worries. I was just enjoying the game and learning a new sport.”

Unlike Ogbongbemiga, Canadian football was all Hubbard ever knew. He was born and raised in Canada and became a national star.

During three seasons at Bev Facey Community High School, Hubbard amassed 6,880 rushing yards on 458 attempts and scored 82 touchdowns. His senior season was cut short due to injury, but he still managed to tally 2,330 yards with 23 touchdowns in 14 games for coach Curtis Martin .

He was named to the All-Canadian first team and was his league’s most valuable player. Hubbard also was a dynamic performer for the Canadian national team, leading the squad to a 42-0 victory over the United States in a January 2015 Under-15 International Bowl matchup. He rushed for three touchdowns and earned MVP honors for the game.

“For me, adjusting to football was just a bunch of little things that all kind of add up,” Hubbard said. “I had to learn about defenses and stuff. There was learning about kickoffs, which coverage you’re in and stuff like that, but the transition wasn’t too bad.”

“Chuba was always a very motivated child and always has been. He was a quiet child, but he loved his sports,” Candace Hubbard , Chuba’s mother, said about her son. “He had done track since he was six and was still motivated to be the very best that he could when he started playing football. It was stressful for him at times trying to do sports, get good grades and still be a child all at the same time.”

Chuba’s support system helped him immensely throughout his time growing up in Canada, and that rings especially true for his mother’s influence on him. Candace’s guidance helped shape her son, and no moment better illustrates that influence than when Chuba, a “cocky little kid” as he described himself, visited Hershey, Pa., to display his immense track and field talents at the North American Final.

“I was one of the fastest in Canada and went there thinking I was going to win this event and blow it out of the water,” Hubbard said. “I thought I was invincible, and I went there and got smoked. I started crying to my mom. She said I had to work hard, and that when you fail you’ve got to keep going. I told her that I was going to come back and win. In 2012, I did go back and ended up winning.”

“He’s a very humble young man, and he works so hard for what he achieves,” Candace said. “He doesn’t always want the recognition that comes from his success; he just does the best he can all the time. Chuba is a wonderful young man, and we always just tell him to stay humble and to be true to himself.”

Chuba Hubbard used that work ethic to his advantage, and others took notice of his success on the track and the gridiron, including the Ogbongbemigas.

“(Amen) came home one day — it was the first time he had played against Chuba — and he said, ‘Wow. I just played against a guy who has got it. They both have it,” Alex said. “After I watched Chuba play, I reached out to him and tried to share with him the same things that I did with Amen.”

Little did Chuba and Amen know that the connection between the two had only just begun that day on the football field, as their futures would be intertwined.