This past month, the CFL released the list of athletes invited to compete at one of the two combine showcases held on an annual basis. For the third year in a row, UW will host the regional combine, set to take place on Feb. 28. The national combine is set to take place March 21-23 in Regina, Sask.
The CFL combine presents an opportunity for U Sports and NCAA athletes to showcase their talent and skill set to various coaches and scouts ahead of the league entry draft on April 29. The regional combine being hosted by UW is considered a tryout for an opportunity to compete with those the CFL considers “the best of the best” who have already earned a spot at the National Combine. According to the CFL website, the top individual performers at the regional combine will be invited to move on to the national set to take place just a month later.
Over 140 athletes were invited to participate in both of these events, and 77 athletes will have the opportunity to showcase their skills at the regional level. Among those 77, two Warriors will be in attendance: Keesean Bowen and Anesu Latmore. As of now, there are around 68 athletes who have already been invited to the national, including the Warriors’ very own Daniel Dove.
Daniel Dove
Kicking things off with Dove: a fifth-year student from Orangeville. Dove plays offensive line and is an intimidating presence to say the least, standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing just over 300 pounds. Dove was a 2024 East-West Bowl participant and for the past three seasons has been the centrepiece of the Warriors’ offensive line.
Dove shared, “Ever since I started playing football when I was in grade 9, I had the dream of playing professionally. Although I always thought it would be possible, it did not truly become a reality for me until I got to UW.” Dove shared this comment not only alluding to the strong coaching track record here at UW to produce CFL talent, but also to a very unique opportunity he had after his first season.
“Back in 2022, when we hosted the regional combine, a bunch of offensive linemen got injured or were unable to participate. As a result, they needed bodies to complete the combine and event as a whole, due to this, Coach Bert reached out to me and more or less told me that I was going to compete with these guys.” Upon putting up a strong performance, Dove shared that after this event, many CFL coaches were very impressed with him, making comments to the tune of “we’ll see you here in a few years, unbelievable job.”
Since then, Dove shared that “the idea of playing in the CFL kinda transitioned from a dream to a potential reality to me.” This early success did not stop Dove from putting in the work for his “official” combine opportunity. Dove shared that he spends over 30 hours combined per week on the field or in the weight room to prepare himself to compete on the national stage come March 21.
In wrapping up our conversation, Dove shared that at the end of the day, he is beyond excited and thankful for this opportunity and can’t wait to compete and enhance the name that he has already created for himself playing four seasons at the U Sports level.
Next, we have fifth-year defensive back, Anesu Latmore, hailing from Ottawa, who will be participating in the regional combine. Latmore is coming off a strong 2024 campaign with the Warriors where he finished top three on the team as far as tackles, impressive for a player in his position. Latmore was a 2024 East-West Bowl participant, where he tested well and will look to do even better when all eyes are on him at the regional combine.
Anesu Latmore
Latmore shared, “To me, a successful combine would be out of all tested measurables, I finish in the top three for my position group.” For reference, the testing measurables at the combine include: a 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump and 225-pound bench press for as many reps as possible.
In discussing his overall prep for the combine, Latmore shared, “For me, I’ve been training for the combine 12 months out of the year.” The main focus of Latmore’s training largely revolved around getting his 40 time and other measurables to an elite level.
As he got closer and closer to the actual date, Latmore shared that in December 2024, he moved out to Edmonton, Alta. to live and train with former Warriors and current Edmonton Elk players, brothers Tre and Tyrell Ford. “This was a great opportunity for me as it provided me with the opportunity to compete against multiple CFL-level talents and train closer with two former teammates with successful track records.” The Ford brothers were both drafted in the first two rounds of the 2022 CFL entry draft.
When asked what this opportunity means to him, Latmore shared that “at the end of the day, I just want to compete, I want to go up against the best possible talent and see where I stack up. The goal wasn’t to necessarily play professionally, the goal has always been just to compete and play the game I love for as long as I possibly can.”
Finally, moving on to the second Warrior selected to compete at the regional combine, we have fifth-year linebacker Keesean Bowen hailing from Scarborough. Bowen was the centrepiece of the Warriors’ defence this past season as he led the team in tackles, leading by example. Bowen had a strong performance in the 2024 East-West Bowl as he was able to register two solo tackles and five assists against top U Sport talent.
Keesan Bowen
When asked about what this invite means to him, Bowen shared that “receiving an invite to the CFL combine to me is a huge accomplishment within itself. I’m on the doorstep of achieving a lifelong goal of mine, but at the end of the day, there is still a lot of work to do. Just because you get invited to the combine, does not mean you made it.”
In elaborating on this, Bowen shared, “As soon as our season finished at the end of October, I had an idea that I would be invited to participate in the combine, so I wasted no time and began training and preparing myself.” Similar to Dove, Bowen is on a strict training regimen that includes four to five sessions in the gym a week and two to three field sessions totalling over 30 hours of prep a week.
Bowen shared that playing professional football has always been a lifelong dream since he started playing when he was 12 years old, but this dream seemed to become legitimate when he arrived at UW. “In my first year back in 2021, the team was loaded with CFL talent, multiple guys on that team were eventually invited to participate in the combine. In going against these guys, I was holding my own, and in the evening winning a handful of reps, this gave me the confidence that I was more than capable of being at their level or beyond in the next four years.”
It is clear that all three of these athletes have put in the work required to achieve the opportunity to compete. With the combine coming in just under a month, it’s time to display all that hard work and put not only themselves on the map but Warriors football as a whole.
