Photo courtesy of Cameron Wellington-Knibbs
May 11, 2023
If you told 10-year-old Cameron Wellington-Knibbs that he would earn a scholarship playing college football he would have been beyond astonished. Cam was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica and lived there until he was eleven years old before moving to the United States. Just seven years later from the move, in December of 2022, Wellington-Knibbs announced he would continue his athletic and academic career at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
Wellington-Knibbs’ path to playing college football was far from the ordinary. In eighth grade, when Wellington-Knibbs first wanted to play tackle football, his aunt was concerned over the extreme physicality of the sport.
“I started with flag football, but then in eighth grade when I wanted to play tackle, my auntie didn’t want me to play tackle because she was worried about me possibly getting [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] (CTE) injuries. Then, my gym teacher, Mr. Gessert, somehow convinced her to let me play, and I am so glad he did, because now I get to play college football,” said Wellington-Knibbs.
Once Wellington-Knibbs worked his way up to the varsity football team, he had trouble getting adjusted to the faster play at first.
“It was a rough start on varsity. I had to prove myself, because nobody really knew me. My previous coach moved to Glenbard West, and he let me know that I was going to have to prove myself. I realized I was really good at snapping but had to work on my blocking.”
Wellington-Knibbs worked hard in the offseason and ended up having two very successful seasons on the offensive line for varsity. Wellington-Knibbs’ play was so good that UW-Platteville offered him a scholarship.
“[UW-Platteville] was very interested in me, but they didn’t think I was serious about them. Later on, in December, I texted [my recruiter] telling him that I’m serious about this, and I was ready to be a pioneer for them. Then, they put me down on the commitment roster and sent me my graphic,” explained Wellington-Knibbs.
Wellington-Knibbs is extremely excited to have the chance to play football at the next level but is also looking forward to furthering his education.
“I’m ready to hit people already,” Wellington-Knibbs said. “I am also really looking forward to excelling and learning new knowledge.”
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