Keene Shigehiro is tackled during the Alberta Senior Bowl. (Image Credit: Submitted Photo)

By Jesse Gill

Smile Sundays

Medicine Hat’s Shigehiro commits to SMU Huskies football program

Feb 22, 2026 | 5:00 AM

Medicine Hat High School Hawks football player Keene Shigehiro has committed to the St. Mary’s Huskies for the 2026 University football season.

The running back during his high school career looks to hold that position next season.

“I’m looking forward to making an impact in my first year, and not getting redshirted and playing,” Shigehiro said.

He adds that his official visit to the school went well.

“I got along with the coaches and everything, and that helped me finalize my decision,” Shigehiro said.

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“On my visit, I stayed with the players, and I got along with the players; it seemed like it was a tight community there, and it seemed like a good fit,” he added.

“I wanted to go over there for the experience, experience something new because this is just a small chunk of my life, and I get to go live somewhere.”

Having that commitment in place is comfortable for him.

“I’m not worried about where I’m going to go. I know there’s a home in the future,” Shigehiro said.

“I got a training program from the university that I’ll continue to do, and maybe a little bit more of my stuff on top of that and then just stay on top of school, and should be set.”

Based in Halifax, the St. Mary’s University team had a dominant 2025 season in the Atlantic University Sport division with seven wins and one loss in the regular season, and a pair of playoff wins, claiming the Loney Bowl as AUS Champions.

The team fell one win short of a spot in the national USports final last year after a 49-19 loss to the Montreal Carabins, who went on to win the Vanier Cup.

Shigehiro stood out in his final high school game at the Alberta Senior Bowl in early January 2026.

He took home MVP for Team South with 120 yards on eight carries and one catch for nine yards during Team South’s 19-13 victory over Team North.

Sigehiro will have a chance to compete against a former teammate when he heads to the East Coast.

Defensive back Corbin Bellamy, another player from the MHHS Hawks during the 2025 season, has committed to play for Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB.

The Mounties struggled during the 2025 AUS season with one win and seven losses.

For Shigehiro, he was busy spending the last part of his February break competing at the ASAA Curling Provincial Championship in Slave Lake from Feb. 19-21.

It’s a sport he just took up this year, but he has a pair of curlers familiar to the local curling scene leading the way with Ryker Miller at skip, and Colby Sherwick at third.