Gaels’ Vanek emerges as football star

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You’d never know it watching him dominate the way he does for the Queen’s Gaels, but defensive back Keegan Vanek was a late bloomer in the game of football. 

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The London, Ontario, native, a fifth-year standout player for the G-Men, who this week was named the Ontario University Athletics’ defensive player of the week following his latest stellar performance in a Gaels win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees last weekend, didn’t start playing football until the end of his elementary school career. 

“Seventh or eighth grade,” Vanek, who attended Lord Nelson Public School, answered when asked when he picked up football. “I was a late, late bloomer when it came to football. A lot of my friends and people I know now in the football world started a lot sooner than I did. I was more into soccer as a young kid.” 

One day, he added, he just decided he wanted to try his hand at football. 

“I was always into watching the NFL and stuff like that with my dad, but one day, I just kind of woke up and was like ‘Hey, I want to play football’ and I made that conversion in late elementary school and just kind of ran with it.” 

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In a historic weekend for Queen’s football in Ottawa last weekend, Vanek stood out for the Gaels on defence and special teams in their 48-20 win over the Gee-Gees. 

The veteran defensive back blocked a Gee-Gees punt putting the ball in Jeremy Hiscox’s hands, who ran it in for the touchdown late in the first frame. Vanek had two interceptions in the Gaels 500th all-time win, returning his second pick going for 64 yards and the touchdown. Vanek added 1.5 tackles to his stat line on Saturday afternoon. 

Given where Vanek hails from, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he’s a talented football player. Western Ontario continues to produce some of the finest football players in the country, a testament to a great coaching system and programs, Vanek said. 

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“A lot of my friends (from the area) have gone on to play at the next level, both at U Sports and Division I down in NCAA,” he said, noting the summer leagues and high school programs are strong. “A lot of us played for the Junior Mustangs program in the (Ontario Varsity Football League). “There has always been a load of good coaches in that area and coaches that really care about developing young players and really pushing throughout the sport, and I think that’s a big difference in terms of why there is some great talent that comes out of that hub.” 

Since coming to Queen’s just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vanek has established himself as a leader on and off the field for the Gaels. 

“That guy, he’s amazing,” Gaels coach Steve Snyder shouts as he passes by a reporter interviewing Vanek. 

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“I loved the tradition here at Queen’s,” Vanek answered when asked why he chose to attend Queen’s. “I loved the way that this was going. When I was being recruited here, Queen’s was kind of on the up and coming, it was coach Snyder’s first year here, that was kind of my time to graduate and move on and I loved what he was doing here. I loved the fact that I could come in and be a part of something that had room to grow and had room to be something special and I think that was a big thing for me coming here, it had a family feel and being able to contribute to something special.” 

It didn’t hurt that it was still close enough to home that his parents and younger sister could attend games. 

“I’m appreciative of them travelling to every game,” Vanek said. “They haven’t missed very many games. I always feel supported even being a little bit far from home.’ 

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It also didn’t hurt that Snyder, who also hails from Western Ontario, was leading the charge when Vanek chose Queen’s. 

“Coach Snyder does a great job in teaching us about the tradition, the history of the program and making sure that we carry on those specific aspects that have been important for decades now,” Vanek said. “He’s meant a lot for sure. He’s a London guy as well and we’ve known each other for quite some time. He’s been there through my journey of football, and it’s definitely meant a lot to be able to come here and play for him and produce good football in a lot of different ways for him here. I have a lot of respect for him, he’s a great coach, he’s a great mentor, he’s a good leader of this football team and I truly respect the kind of guy he is and the kind of coach he is and how he develops us. It’s tremendous.” 

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Statistically, Vanek has been a monster for the Gaels in his career, having appeared in 31 games over his four seasons. Along with two touchdowns, he’s credited with eight interceptions for 121 yards and 81 tackles, 57 of them solo tackles. 

But Snyder coached athletes put the team first, ahead of individual performances. Vanek is no exception. 

“We’ve really built a brotherhood around the team,” Vanek said, deflecting praise. “No one’s left out, no one’s higher than another and it really, truly feels like a family. It feels like we’ve made friendships and have had brothers that we’re going to be able to hit up years from now and still have that connection and I think that’s truly special and it also translates to what we can do on the field as well, having such a tight-knit connection with the person you’re going to be playing beside, it makes a true difference.” 

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Days before he scored the second TD of his career, Vanek was asked if he had a most memorable moment from his time at Queen’s. 

“When somebody makes a big play and we’re all able to come around and celebrate that one person, whether it’s myself making the play and people come and celebrate me or it’s the guy I’m playing beside gets an interception and we can all come together and be happy for the successes of others,” Vanek answered. “We don’t play for ourselves, we play for the team and I think that’s a big difference between winning games and losing games. You have to have that connection between celebrating the successes of others and making sure that they feel important as well.” 

With his Gaels in the thick of the season, set to host Guelph before travelling to face very tough foes in Western and Laurier before hosting Waterloo for the Homecoming game, Vanek said he’s not looking past the next four weeks when it comes to his football future. 

“It’s my draft year this year, so we’ll kind of see how that goes, but we’ll finish up this year first, and a potential sixth year depending on how everything goes down,” he said, admitting that the CFL is a dream for him. 

“That’s the goal for me.” 

The Gaels host the Gryphons at Richardson Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is 3 p.m. 

janmurphy@postmedia.com

x.com/Jan_Murphy

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