Alebiosu, McAuley named top Plainsmen

If you tried to predict the 2025 Crocus Plainsmen athletes of the year this time last year, you’d have faced a no-brainer and a head-scratcher.

Naturally, Rebecca Alebiosu repeated as the female athlete of the year, but not even Seth McAuley thought it possible he’d receive the male honour.

“It’s definitely something I never thought would happen,” McAuley said, proudly holding his plaque on Tuesday.

“Ever since Grade 9, I’ve loved playing sports but it’s never something I expected to actually excel in. Grade 12 was just my year, I guess.

“I’m really glad I got what I worked for.”

McAuley was mainly a volleyball player for most of high school. He joined the football team in Grade 10 but had a limited role in his first two seasons.

He focused on volleyball more, grinding through tough seasons against stout Vincent Massey and Neelin squads, then joining some of his crosstown rivals during the Brandon Volleyball Club season in the winter.

Something changed when his last summer of high school rolled around. Or, he had a thought that changed the course of his life.

“This is my last year of high school, maybe my last year of sports, why don’t I give it my all for once?” he recalled.

McAuley trained hard in the gym and sprinted outside to see if it’d translate into bigger minutes on the gridiron.

Not only did he start at cornerback, he also helped the Plainsmen (4-3) reach the Winnipeg High School Football League’s Vidruk Bowl final, losing a competitive game 21-10 to the Vincent Massey Vikings (3-4) at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ home Princess Auto Stadium.

That season taught McAuley a lot.

“It really teaches me you get what you work for. You know it hurts but you know you still have to do it,” McAuley said.

“It sucks, it hurts, you’ll get injured but that’s how you grow in life. Playing football is a great way to just grow as a person.”

And he’s not done yet.

McAuley, who also played basketball and competed in track and field this year, has signed with the Canadian Junior Football League’s Winnipeg Rifles.

It was another unexpected twist in his journey and another testament to his work ethic.

The five-foot-10 defensive back compiled a highlight tape and sent it to just about every university and junior program in the country. McAuley said Rifles coach Geordie Wilson replied within 15 minutes to set up a call.

He’ll move to Winnipeg in the fall and study kinesiology at the University of Manitoba while suiting up alongside Plainsmen teammates Ayden Bone — the school’s 2024 male athlete of the year — and Simon Leckie.

“I see a lot of quotes in movies and people saying, ‘You get what you work for.’ I thought it was some corny, cringey line,” McAuley said. “But no, it’s really true. You get what you work for. If you put in the work, you’ll get exactly what you ask for.”

ALEBIOSU GREW

ON COURT, PITCH

Alebiosu could have coasted on the talent that got her to varsity basketball as a sophomore, but saw an important void to fill when veterans Kylie Kulman and Amber Neapew graduated a year earlier.

The five-foot-six guard pushed herself in the summer, cracking the Team West squad for the Manitoba Games in Dauphin and training whenever she could outside of organized practices.

Alebiosu was quick to credit coach Adam Hartman for instilling that work ethic.

“I feel like he was a really huge part of my high school life. Being able to put me into basketball and help motivate me, I have him to thank for being able to be here today and being chosen for this,” Alebiosu said.

“The coach really makes or breaks the team and the coaching and support we had from Izzy (Isabelle King), Paige (Donald), Cady (Gompf) and Hartman, that was just top tier. He made sure everyone got along and our practices were really focused. He really put in a lot of time and effort into making it such a memorable team for every single year I played.”

The Plainsmen had a city title to defend but it was a tall order, one they eventually fell short of as the strongest Vincent Massey Vikings teams in recent history swept the city final.

It wasn’t the ending Crocus hoped and prepared for but the players learned a lot from the process.

“The growth we made from the beginning of the year … was enough for me to be satisfied,” Alebiosu said. “Typically going into provincials anyways we would lose, so it meant a lot more to our team and we worked a lot harder in order to try to beat Massey.”

She qualified for track and field provincials in the long jump and triple jump but was unable to compete as the weekend was cancelled due to poor air quality.

Alebiosu joined the rugby sevens team in Grade 10 and added 15s to her slate this spring.

“I really enjoyed rugby, it was one of the great parts of high school as well,” she said. “It felt really great to be able to get all aggressions (out), not have to hold back, and run freely.

“Sevens is a whole different kind of game. There’s so much running … there’s so (many) things you can do and I feel like I was such a huge part of our team and the successes we had.”

Alebiosu is off to the University of Regina this fall to take justice studies, with plans of joining the RCMP. For now, she’s focused on school but hopes to work her way onto the U of R rugby club or basketball team as a practice player to stay involved in sports.

Looking back, she’s certainly grateful for her four years with the Plainsmen.

“It exceeded anything I ever expected,” she said. “I wasn’t really sure what high school would look like. Obviously, you see the movies but ours started off with masks.

“I wasn’t sure if I would have all the opportunities you see other people have (previously). It was really incredible to find something, to find sports as a highlight in my years, something I was good at. To be able to do that was really incredible.”

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