If you have ambitions on playing a sport at a high level, never believe that every door has been closed when things don’t seem to be going your way. There may be another route, another path, another way that can help you achieve your lifelong dream.
That is the case with Milton High alum Isaiah Woodley.
Through seven games with the Regina Thunder of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL), Woodley has collected 33 catches with 573 yards and five touchdowns, placing him within or near the top-five in the entire league.
His story of success is one that fairy tales are made of.
Woodley began his football career with the Milton Mustangs youth program in the seventh grade, working his way through Milton High, where he would star in head coach Steve Dembowski’s pass-heavy offense as a wide receiver.
Upon graduation in 2019, Woodley made the trek to the Midwest, suiting up to play for the Dakota College Lumberjacks of the National Junior College Association, located in Bottineau, North Dakota, but it was after his freshman season that Woodley would hit a bit of a roadblock as the school would wind up dropping its football program after the campaign.
Still feeling a knack for athletics while at the school, Woodley, also a star basketball player at Milton High, spent his sophomore year with the community college’s hoops team.
It would be soon after when he met Michael Smith, head coach of the volleyball program. Smith, a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, was set to return home and serve as the Thunder’s recruiting coordinator.
The pair talked about Woodley possibly heading north of the border to play with the team. Woodley, at first, decided to head back to Massachusetts to weigh his options, but when Smith called again and after some more pondering, Woodley finally decided to make the trip.
“I got out of work during that summer and I received a call from Mike Smith,” Woodley said. “He told me he had a coach who liked my film. I talked it over with my family and I made the decision to go to Canada.”
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