Eli Ankou’s excellent U.S. football adventure leads to UCLA

Barely four years removed from never having played an organized football game, it’s been a wild ride to a totally different world for Ottawa native Eli Ankou, who’s next stop will be a USA vs the World game for top high school prospects in Austin, TX.


“I was generally a big kid, but I never really put the thought into playing football,” explains Ankou, who played soccer prior to joining the Cumberland Panthers Peewee team in 2008. “The whole sport of football was just something I fell in love with.”

Ankou continued to evolve as a player with the Panthers and the St. Peter Knights, while the now-6’ 3”, 245-lb. defensive lineman became a physical specimen with the help of Vic Tedondo, a Panthers coach who runs Gridiron Academy, a training group.

On top of working out primarily at the Louis-Riel Dome, Tedondo also places an emphasis on attending combines and university camps in the U.S. to offer Canadian players an opportunity to receive athletic scholarships south of the border. Ankou took the NCAA recruitment journey a step further even by leaving St. Peter and enrolling at Red Lion Christian Academy in Delaware to face better competition.

“I figured that’s one of the best options I have now to get to where I want to be and to develop as a player,” explains Ankou, who nevertheless praises Ottawa football for its top-notch coaching in particular.

It’s also a completely different lifestyle in the land where “everything revolves more around sports.”

“Here, a high school game, we have about 200 people on the sidelines standing,” Ankou describes. “There was a game we had in Ohio where there were 25,000 fans. There were fireworks going off after every touchdown. It was really different.”
Ankou originally had reservations about leaving home, but once he met his hosts, any fears evaporated.

“It’s pretty cool to go down to the United States and have a second family there,” notes the Grade 12 high school senior. “The family I’m living with there is really great.”
The big man’s big offer
Around March break last year, Tedondo told Ankou that UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) football coach Rick Neuheisel wanted to speak to him. What he wasn’t expecting to get from the phone call was an offer for a full athletic scholarship.

“Right there, my heart stopped,” Ankou recounts. “It was like, ‘Is this really happening?’”

Tedondo knew UCLA had their eye on his athlete from a “big-man challenge” held at Rutgers University, but even he was caught a little off-guard by the offer coming so soon.

“I was shocked, but I also knew it was coming,” says Tedondo, identifying Ankou as a source of inspiration for the 50 younger Gridiron Academy prospects along with other success stories such as Scott Mitchell and Trent Corney. “Because of them, they believe in the dream.”

Although his trip south has produced many rewards, Ankou looks forward to taking on the U.S. as a member of the World team for the International Bowl contest on Feb. 2 in Austin.

“I think it’s going to be a really great experience getting to know players from around the world,” highlights Ankou, who will team up with two other Ottawa natives, plus players from Austria, Samoa and Australia. “Competing against the USA will be a big game and it’ll be very exciting.”

Also playing in the International Bowl are University of Virginia-bound former Ottawa Sooner Ryan Doull and Kadeem Vaillancourt, a Concordia Stingers rookie who previously played for the St. Mark Lions, Gloucester South Raiders,  Panthers and Sooners.