It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine to actually make it to the CFL one day, and so it feels good to finally have my work pay off here with an invitation to the Lions’ evaluation camp.

— Layne Hull, Linebacker

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Former Yorkton Regional Raider linebacker Layne Hull is one step closer to making his CFL dreams a reality.



The 6’1”, 213-pound Hull, who spent the last three seasons playing for the Okanagan Sun of the Canadian Junior Football League’s B.C. Football Conference (BCFC), was recently one of 19 BCFC players to be invited to the 2016 B.C. Lions evaluation camp, which will take place May 6 in Surrey, BC. “This is a great opportunity for me to move on in my career,” Hull, 21, told Yorkton This Week Sunday afternoon. “It’s always been a lifelong dream of mine to actually make it to the CFL one day, and so it feels good to finally have my work pay off here with an invitation to the Lions’ evaluation camp.”



Hull earned his spot at the 2016 evaluation camp due to a strong 2015 season in which he made 14 tackles, assisted on seven more and had 3.5 sacks in seven regular season games before stepping it up in the playoffs, recording 14 tackles, one sack and a blocked punt for a touchdown in three playoff games while also being named the Larry Wruck Defensive Player of the Game in the 2015 Canadian Bowl. “It was definitely because of my play this past year,” mentioned the Willowbrook native, continuing, “I got the chance to start – I was playing basically just special teams my first two years - had a really good year and definitely found my way onto a lot of CFL teams’ radars.”



The Lions’ camp isn’t the only opportunity for Hull to continue on with his football career in 2016, however.



Should the camp not go as well as he’s expecting, the 21-year-old football player said he has two other options: he could either return to Okanagan for a fourth season, or play for the Regina Rams, who offered him a full scholarship late in 2015. “I have Rams spring camp May 29-31, and I’m going to go and see how it is and where I fit in,” said Hull. “If I don’t fit in there, then obviously I’m going to go back to Okanagan, but it all depends on what happens at the Rams camp and at the B.C. Lions camp.



“If I impress at the Lions evaluation camp then I can get asked to the rookie camp, and if I get asked to go to the rookie camp then I might as well go back to BC because I could go from the rookie camp to the main camp, and it would be easier to get there from Okanagan.”



Hull also says that his decision on whether to play in Regina or Okanagan would depend largely on playing time, and while he was promised a starting spot on the Rams by then-coach Mike Gibson, there is no guarantee that he’ll be given a starting spot by current coach Stephen Bryce. “I know when Coach Gibson was there, I was coming and coming to play, but now he’s gone and although I met with the new head coach (Stephen Bryce) and he still has the same expectations for me to go in and start on their defence, that might change,” said Hull. “If something changes then there is no sense in me going there and sitting on the bench when I could be starting in Okanagan, so definitely a starting role is what I’m looking for there.”



As for the upcoming evaluation camp, Hull says he knows that to expect, as he’s played with – and against – many of the players attending the camp. “I know the competition level will be very high there.



“I’ve played with a lot of the guys the last three years, so I know a lot of names and who is going and who isn’t, so I know what the competition level will be there, but I’m just going to go and do my thing and whatever happens, happens.”