Jamestown High School's Connor Ede does it all for the Blue Jays

Oct. 27—JAMESTOWN — It's hard enough being a full-time student who plays a sport but Connor Ede coordinates schedules to the next level.

Along with playing football, Ede, a senior at Jamestown High School, is a part of the Jamestown High School National Honor Society and KEY Club. He's an active volunteer with Special Olympics and is a part of the church council at St. John's Lutheran Church.

He's also acted as a photography intern under local photographer Lisa Lang, is a part of the JHS E-sports team and has been involved in the JHS Robotics Cub. And he plays volleyball with a club team out of JHS.

"I keep myself busy," Ede said with a laugh.

There is a reason behind every one of his passions.

"I've played football since I was young," Ede said. "My dad played football and is now in the Hall of Fame for the Jimmies so it was just kind of given to me at a young age. I played flag football forever — I was kind of a bigger kid so I ran over kids — so everyone was like 'you should go play tackle football — you are going to be great as a lineman.'"

Ede took his peers' advice and signed up for tackle football but back then, it wasn't for him.

"It really didn't suit me so I went and played soccer for a couple of years then the next year I went back to football because I was too tall for soccer," Ede said. "From there I started gaining weight and went back to being a lineman. Now I am stuck in it and it's fun."

Ede is one of the players for JHS who has been a part of the 2021 and 2022 Class A State Championship Football Teams but his prep career began on a rocky note.

"Freshman year — it was really weird because that 2020 year was just so jumbled," Ede said. "I remember a bunch of the senior guys would stay after practice and work with us freshmen to try and get us to play a little bit better.

"Where now we have a lot of the freshmen working with us at a lot of the practices, we weren't able to do that because of the COVID rules," he said. "Having those rules, we were so separated from everybody else."

That changed once his sophomore season rolled around.

"Sophomore year, we played really well as a JV — we didn't win any games but — we played well," Ede said. "It was a year to kind of get everybody back into being a part of the full team instead of being separated."

"My sophomore year I ended up catching COVID the week of the state championship so I had to watch it on my TV at home," Ede said. "That was really unfortunate. But I still remember watching Thomas Allmer pick up the stray fumble and take it all the way to the house. That's still one of the best plays I have ever seen."

After missing out on the 2021 state championship game experience, Ede came back eager to work for a repeat at the state title.

"Junior year, we were all still so hyped off the win," Ede said. "There was a lot of expectation though. After the Valley City game — it was a different mentality and we eventually caught up to that expectation."

While the Jays made it back to the Dakota Bowl in 2022, Ede didn't actually get the chance to take the field.

"The week before Preston (Gall) shattered his knee, I tore my meniscus, I had a small tear in my ACL and I tore a muscle in the back of my right knee," Ede said. "At the championship game, I was wheeling Preston around keeping the injury squad together."

After missing out on not one but two state championships — Ede came into his senior year even hungrier.

"Coming into this year I have all of this desire and energy but all of it is about winning the next game," Ede said. "Once we are challenged, we'll always meet the challenge. We've got a lot of great players. The talent is definitely there. A lot of this year has come down to who's going to be there that week at 100% mentally and physically."

Ede has been there 100% physically for almost all of the Blue Jays' games this year.

"I've always kind of been the tall kid," Ede said. "Everybody looks at me and goes — 'hey, do you play basketball?'

"I think I am 6-foot-5 right now," he said. "Being so young and growing so quickly, it's very hard on your joints and your knees and stuff like that. Playing a contact sport doesn't really help. I've had tendinitis since I was young and I wouldn't say I am the most not accident prone. I am very easily injured."

At Ede's most recent doctor's appointment, he received word that the growth plates in his feet are still open which means he's likely got a couple more inches before he officially stops growing.

"I am starting to level out now," Ede said. "I haven't had knee issues this year until a couple of weeks ago. It's been really nice honestly."

Ede tore his meniscus two weeks ago but at this point, the senior — with his doctor's OK — has decided to gut it out.

"The desire to go out there and play and the sheer love of the sport have kept me in it," Ede said. "Now that it's my senior year, I just want to finish it out the full way through. There have been thoughts of, I should stop because it hurts, but you see other guys push through it and you just want to continue."

Ede has begun to play volleyball with a club team out of Jamestown High School started by former University of Jamestown men's volleyball player Downey Huynh. Ede said there are consistently 10 guys who show up to the club team's open practices.

"For many, many years I have been a part of Special Olympics," Ede said. "My mom (Ann) is the co-owner of Triumph (Corporation) and they help people with special needs to get on their feet and find jobs and stuff like that so I've been predisposed to helping people who need it.

"Something my mom brought up to me was playing Special Olympics volleyball as a partner and helping people with disabilities be able to play," he said. "I used to play volleyball with my mom and then playing with Special Olympics got me into the love of it."

Ede said along with practices, the Jamestown club team competes at some open tournaments throughout the year. The most recent tournament was held at UJ on Oct. 21.

After Ede wraps his senior year, he wants to pursue playing either collegiate-level football or volleyball and pursue a degree in civil engineering. Ede is looking at attending the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University or the University of Jamestown.

Even if he ends up leaving the Buffalo City, Ede said he will still continue to help out the community in whatever way he can.

"My mom's leadership in helping people out gets me excited about helping others," Ede said. "That's why I am involved. Being a part of the community helps everybody out in the long term. The more we help each other the more everyone succeeds out of it and the more gratification you get. It's a good thing to do."