Sooke’s Mason Swift has been attracting attention since he took up organized sports and the attention only gets more intense as the athletic phenomenon matures.

The versatile football player has just returned from a showcase at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, having been a major contributor in the Victoria Renegades’ capture of a provincial bantam crown in a decisive win over Port Coquitlam. Swift, in fact, was named most valuable player in the game.

Local football mentor and booster Ron Bazuk was on the phone to the Sooke News Mirror Sunday as he and the squad awaited the 6 p.m. ferry back to the Island.

Spirits would have been sky-high as they had a 67-20 win to savour... a win that came at one of the highest profile venues in the country. The players got to do their thing on the home turf of BC Lions such as Geroy Simon, Cameron Wake and Jason Clermont, and it had to have been a thrill to play so flawlessly when the spotlight was on them.

Swift is one of several Sooke residents playing for the Renegade’s, the others being Connor Gray, Brandon L’Heureux and Kyle Clarke - they are called “the Fab Four” by their teammates.

The team had hosted their semi-final a week previous and totally dismantled an Abbotsford group by a score of 58-0 to earn its appearance in the big show in Vancouver.

Swift had been outstanding in the semi with an unbelievable 342 yards rushing. The soon-to-be-14-year-old, 5’10” 185-pound Swift was totally dominant on both sides of the ball.

Bazuk relayed the information that Mason’s first two touches of the ball translated to touchdowns – not good news for the opposition.

“He had mainly runs,” said Bazuk, “but he had a 45-yard touchdown reception. He really had to fight for the ball because it was kind of a floater. It looked like he was wrapped up by the guy, the Mason, like a magician managed to get out of it and he went and scored his second touchdown. He scored five of the 10touchdowns that were scored by Renegades.”

Swift may not have played a lot on defense (who plays a lot of defense when the offense is busy piling up 67 points?) but he did make his presence felt in the way of punishing tackles and a quarterback sack from his d-line position.

“Everything was really cool,” said Mason the next morning of the experience. “We came in on a big Gray Line bus. We all got out and then we saw the big dome... it was huge, I couldn’t wait to be playing in it.” Conditions could not have been more conducive to football, especially when compared to the cool, damp late November weather outside. Swift said the artificial turf had a bit of sponginess to it, but not so much that it didn’t hurt to land on it. He said is was plenty warm under the dome even though the heaters weren’t on.

Swift credited his team’s coaching with the win, pointing to the varied attack that keeps opponents guessing. He said it’s not uncommon for other squads to feature one-dimensional game plans.

Swift, his coaches, teammates, family and friends are all pleased with the level of success being achieved of late. He says his sporting life is turning out pretty much like he has hoped it would and that certain options may be opening up as a result.

With football behind him for the time being he will turn his attention to helping his U15 soccer team in every way he can – again... not good news for the opposition.