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<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s just surreal seeing him out there playing regular season games [in the CFL],\u201d Lancaster said, noting Bond is the first player from Kamloops to play in the CFL regular season since Brad Yamaoka retired in 2003. <\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s so humble, so really neat to see that happen to a quality guy like that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bond was born in Terrace, but his family settled near Savona when he was 11 years old and he considers Kamloops his hometown. <\/p>\n
He made the shift from Ashcroft Secondary to South Kamloops Secondary in time for his Grade 11 year and proved a quick pigskin study after joining the Titans\u2019 football squad in Grade 12, playing defensive end and receiver. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to simplify things for him coming in very green, but athletic,\u201d Lancaster said. \u201cHe played slot receiver for us. By Week 4, we were putting in plays specifically for him where we\u2019d kind of just run him down the seam and post him up.\u201d <\/p>\n
After graduating from high school, Bond joined the Okanagan Sun of Kelowna in the B.C. Football Conference ranks and won a national championship with the prolific program in 2022. <\/p>\n
He shifted from receiver to linebacker and was named the BCFC defensive player of the year in 2024, catching the eyes of the Lions in the process. <\/p>\n
Bond earned an invite to Leos\u2019 training camp this year in Kamloops. <\/p>\n
\u201cWatching him in training camp this summer, seeing him with the linebackers doing drills with a guy like Ben Hladik, who\u2019s their starter, that for me was kind of what really jumped out and excited me,\u201d Lancaster said. \u201cYou look at the body type, you look at the way he\u2019s moving and it\u2019s like, he is close. He could make it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Any momentum Bond had was quelled when he suffered an injury in a pre-season game against the Calgary Stampeders on May 19 in Langford. <\/p>\n
Adding to the tumult, a position change during training camp, with the Lions moving him from linebacker to fullback. <\/p>\n
Bond was released after training camp and planned to return to the Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty tough to make a team when you\u2019re injured, but the conversation went well,\u201d Bond said. \u201cThey gave it to us straight. They could see a role on the team for me. It just wasn\u2019t at that moment in time.\u201d <\/p>\n
The message from Lions\u2019 brass was not lip service, with Bond invited to join the CFL club\u2019s practice roster a few weeks after his release. <\/p>\n
Duties ramped up during the week prior to the Elks game. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat was also a pretty crazy moment because I showed up on Monday and we started practising on Tuesday or something like that and I was starting on a special team and I\u2019m like, whoa, first week, all right, let\u2019s just kind of embrace it,\u201d Bond said. \u201cI spent a lot of time in the playbook during the first week and then all of a sudden I was on three special teams. I was like, okay, so I\u2019m probably dressing. And then, yeah, I got word on the Friday or whatever that I would be going with them to the game and dressing and playing. That was good news. I was pretty excited about that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bond has played in two CFL regular-season games \u2013 a 32-14 victory over Edmonton and a 33-27 loss to Saskatchewan last weekend at BC Place \u2014 and has seen action on special teams and in short-yardage situations on offence. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m on a regular contract, like a normal rookie would be on, but because I have eligibility in two different places [CFL and BCFC], I guess I could always get sent back,\u201d Bond said, \u201cso I guess technically I\u2019m game to game, but the way I\u2019m looking at it is I\u2019m trying to stay on the roster all year.\u201d <\/p>\n
Early-career highlights include flattening a Rider with a special teams block that helped spring a Lions kick return last weekend, the play among little moments that can go a long way. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think every time you touch the field, practice-wise, game-wise, it\u2019s always important because they\u2019re always watching,\u201d Bond said. \u201cThere are three cameras looking at you at all times. They see every little thing and it all matters. I\u2019m trying to find my way and build confidence up. It\u2019s definitely coming.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Lions (3-4) are scheduled to host the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-2) on Sunday, a 4:00 p.m. start at BC Place. <\/p>\n
Bond is expected to make it three straight games in the lineup, continuing a rapid football ascent that began in the Tournament Capital. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very important,\u201d Bond said of his Grade 12 year with the Titans. \u201cI think that\u2019s where the love for the sport started. I think when I got to the Sun, that\u2019s where more of the skill came from, but high school football\u2026 you\u2019re just going out there and having fun with your boys, so I think that\u2019s where the love for the sport started.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s just surreal seeing him out there playing regular season games [in the CFL],\u201d Lancaster said, noting Bond…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-21837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}