West Ferris Trojans football star James Piper is a co-winner of the Britt Jessup Memorial Trophy for outstanding achievement by a local male athlete. Piper shared the 2019 award with multi-sport athlete Keon Wallingford
See related: Wallingford co-winner of the Jessup Award for male athlete of the year
Piper played five years of football at West Ferris Secondary School. In his first two years, playing junior football, he helped the Trojans capture two NDA titles. In his first year of senior, he started to come into his own as a receiver, helping West Ferris capture both the NDA and NOSSA titles.
That same team lost to Thunder Bay in the OFSAA Northern Bowl played in Hamilton, a highly contested match. The past two years he once again helped the Trojans win back-to-back NDA titles before losing on two occasions to a very strong Korah Collegiate football team in the NOSSA Finals. His statistics have been especially impressive during the past two years with the 6’5” receiver hauling in 66 receptions for 1154 yards and 17 touchdowns.
He was also one of two players from Northern Ontario selected to play at the Nissan All Canadian Titan game in Calgary during the Grey Cup weekend.
“James embodies what we want as a player at Ferris. He chooses to be fully committed; he chooses to be accountable for his words and actions," said Mark Robertson, West Ferris Trojans football head coach.
"This combined with his grit and determination makes him an excellent recipient for this award.”
See related: Star receiver heading to the Grey Cup for high school all-star event
James has also played five years of basketball for the Trojans, all of it senior level. He has been selected the team’s MVP three times and Rookie of the Year in his grade 9 year. This past year James led the Green and White to their 1st NDA Senior title in 9 years, defeating Franco Cité in the final.
West Ferris would have been hosting the OFSAA ‘A’ basketball championships in March, so, unfortunately, James was not be given an opportunity to compete in his first OFSAA Basketball championship. The past four years he has participated in Club basketball and his team has captured four provincial silver medals.
Former Head Coach Larry Tougas called Piper “the consummate student-athlete. What I am most proud of, watching him grow over the years is how he has matured into a great leader and teammate.”
James has received a great deal of interest from CIS teams. Piper has just signed a letter of intent and an athletic scholarship to play football at Western, which is one of the most renowned programs in the country.
“We are excited about having James join our football program at Western. He is an outstanding student-athlete with a strong character and work ethic. He will make a positive impact on football program,” said Greg Marshall, Western Mustangs varsity football head coach.
The 2019 Hall of Fame award winners will be recognized and presented their awards at a later date this year.
