CALGARY – For eight members of the 2025 University of Calgary Dinos football team, 2025 will mark their last year in a Dinos' uniform as they are in the final season of U SPORTS eligibility. 

Steen Rasmussen, Gideon Agyei, Deakon Taylor-Young, Liam Reid all missed 2020 due to COVID, but persevered pursuing their athletic and academic goals.  

The senior member is Rasmussen, the only member from the 2019 Vanier Cup team. 

A 25-year-old native of Lantzville, B.C., on Vancouver Island, Steen was a redshirt-freshman defensive back in 2019. The following two seasons, he was on a variety of special teams, becoming a starter in the secondary in 2023. An Academic All-Canadian the past four seasons, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and completed a Master's degree in Data and Analytics. 

Gideon Agyei joined the Dinos in 2020 from Notre Dame High School in Calgary, but was born in Toronto. He played in four of six conference games in the secondary in 2021 as a freshman, but was limited to three games the following season due to injury. He became a starter at cornerback in the secondary in 2023 and was selected 52nd overall in the Canadian Football League draft by the Saskatchewan Roughriders this past offseason. Agyei attended their training camp prior to rejoining the Dinos for Fall Camp.

Tyreese Bristol returns to the Dinos in 2025 after missing the 2024. Bristol spent two seasons with the Calgary Colts of the Prairie Junior Football League. He started all six games in the secondary in the shortened six game 2021 season. He attended Notre Dame High School in Calgary and was coached by former Dinos linebacker Dave Diluzio. 

25-year-old Jordan Chizda played high school football in Winnipeg at Grant Park Collegiate. In his three seasons, he has accumulated 41 tackles and five interceptions in 24 conference games. Chizda is in final year of Arts courses, majoring in Communications after playing for the Valley Huskers in British Columbia Junior Football Conference. 

Defensive end Liam Reid needs little introduction. He joined the program from Vernon Secondary School in 2020, having been coached by Sean Smith. Last year, he was a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian defensive end and a unanimous conference all-star. Reid has been a leader on the defense, amassing 104 tackles, seven sacks and two forced fumbles in his career. He is in his final year of studies in the Haskayne School of Business.

Offensive lineman Daniel Stefanyk joined the team in 2023 after playing three seasons with the Calgary Colts of the Prairie Junior Football Conference and was a U SPORTS Academic All-Canadian last year. 

Kicker Vince Triumbari joined the Dinos in the 2021 from Stoney Creek, Ont., and has been the team's reliable kicker ever since. He earned Canada West Special Teams Player of the Week honors once last year.

"Football shaped who I am today," stated Triumbari who graduates this year majoring in Communications. "Coming to early morning lifts and late practices. My career has gone by so fast," 

Deakon Taylor-Young has been a reliable player in the secondary and special teams throughout his career. Taylor-Young joined the team from New Westminster Hyacks, where he was coached by Farhan Lalji. He also was CW Defensive Player of the Week once last year. 

"My time has flown by so fast here," stated Taylor-Young, who values the relationships he has made with his fellow teammates. 

The Cambridge Dictionary describes perseverance as: "continued effort to do or achieve something, even when this is difficult or takes a long time." These eight individuals have truly persevered during their career with the Dinos football program. 

-UC-