Regina Thunder receiver Ethan Douglas, whose intensive training regimen can include post-practice sprints up the Mount Pleasant hill, hopes to reach the summit from several perspectives.

For example, he would like to play professional football.

And he also aspires to win a Pulitzer Prize as a screenwriter.

For now, the screen plays are restricted to football — in which the 19-year-old Douglas cheerfully immerses himself.

Douglas jokes that his teammates often refer to him as a “full-time junior football player.” Considering his itinerary, the label fits.

On a typical practice day, he arrives at Scotty Livingstone Field — located in Mount Pleasant Sports Park — around 3 p.m., whereupon he dives into video for the purpose of pre-scouting defensive backs who will likely be covering him in the next Prairie Football Conference game.

At 4 p.m., Douglas will shift his attention to physiotherapy and/or lifting weights.

Then comes an individual on-field workout at 5 p.m., when he will perform drills and practise pass routes.

The Thunder’s formal film session kicks off at 6 p.m.

Following a two-hour practice, which begins at 7 p.m., Douglas has been known to attack the Mount Pleasant hill — five ascents being the norm.

“I don’t know how he does it,” Thunder head coach Scott MacAulay marvels. “He doesn’t sleep.”

Douglas eats, sleeps and breathes all his passions — including sports, which he has enjoyed as a participant and a spectator as far back as he can remember.

A self-described “stats kid,” Douglas has long been able to recite detailed data pertaining to sporting luminaries — everyone from Sidney Crosby to Kobe Bryant to Weston Dressler.

In the present tense, Douglas is typically aware of his own numbers — he has 16 catches for 261 yards and three touchdowns in four games — without being self-centred.

After all, this personable pass catcher can just as quickly recite the statistics of his teammates, who are more like brothers.

“I’ve made so many friendships on this team,” Douglas says leading up to Sunday’s game against the Edmonton Huskies (1 p.m., Mosaic Stadium).

“It might sound weird to say that you’ve made lifelong connections at 19, but that’s the way it is. I know that a lot of these guys will always be there for me.”

Douglas was quickly embraced by the Thunder players upon joining the team last season, after starring for the Caronport Cougars in the six-man high school ranks.

As one who was born in Carnduff and lived on a farm in that area until the family moved to Caronport when he was 11, Douglas was faced with various adjustments as a PFC rookie in 2018.

Determined to prove himself in new environs, Douglas quickly demonstrated the work ethic that compels him to work overtime at the practice facility.

“This is the corniest thing I say to people, but I get anxious at the idea that somebody might be doing more than me,” he says. “I find ways to convince myself that somebody is doing a lot more than me, because I assume they can.”

That mindset is reminiscent of one of Douglas’s favourite athletes — a recently retired Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver.

“We got Riders season tickets when I was 16 and I would want to get there in time for the warmups so that I could watch the way the team looked at Rob Bagg,” Douglas says.

“He didn’t demand anything. He earned everything. People knew how much he meant to the team and how hard he worked, and I loved that.”

The list of people Douglas admires includes former British prime minister Winston Churchill, a man “who spoke his mind” and didn’t settle for being somewhere in the middle.

As someone who enjoys writing as “a creative outlet,” Douglas has entertained the notion of becoming a journalist.

He has also given thought to pursuing a career as a screenwriter for movies or television shows.

“Every writer’s dream is to win a Pulitzer,” he says. “That’s definitely on my bucket list.”

The immediate goal, with a wide-ranging midweek interview winding down, is to enjoy an after-practice “wing night with the boys” on the Thunder.

Rest assured that he will burn off the calories in no time.

rvanstone@postmedia.com

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