From Haiti to Saskatchewan: How Kendy Charles is turning opportunity into his dream

Kendy Charles’ road to becoming a professional football player has been anything but normal.

The six-foot-tall 287-pound defensive lineman was born in Haiti and grew up in the country until he turned nine. His family immigrated to the United States after the earthquake in 2010 that killed over 100,000 people.

“My times in Haiti – I have great memories – also tragedies that I’ve been part of,” Charles said when asked about what it was like growing up in a country that has suffered a lot.

“But, it made me the man I am today. I’m glad I spent nine years there. It kind of built me and shaped my character.”

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Charles and his family were able to immigrate to the United States after the 7.0 earthquake hit because his dad was already living in Florida.

When Charles moved to the United States, he said he had never heard of American football and mentioned soccer was the only sport he played.

But when Charles was in junior high, he decided to give football a try.

“I realized everyone was playing football. That was the main sport here and I wanted to make friends,” Charles said. “I decided to join the team.”

Charles joined a team in Grade 8 and admitted he didn’t like it, so he quit.

“I didn’t really like it, because I’m in love with soccer,” Charles stated.

Heading into his Grade 9 year, one of Charles’ coaches found out he didn’t want to play football anymore and convinced him to give it another shot.

Charles agreed, and ever since that conversation, he’s never looked back.

“It was just a sort of understanding, like, I’m pretty decent at this. I can do this,” Charles said.

“My high school coach really set the foundation for me. My junior high coach really instilled physicality in me.”

By sticking with football, Charles climbed the high school prospect ranks in the United States. His hard work and the mentoring of his coaches was able to help him land a full-ride scholarship at Liberty in New York.

He played from 2020-23 at Liberty, before joining Duke in 2024 for his senior season.

Even though he hated playing football at first, Charles said now he wants to carry the sport with him for as long as he can.

“At the end of the day, I love football and that’s what I want to do. Even after I’m done playing ball, I want to be a coach,” Charles said. “I can’t be more thankful for this opportunity. I’m just so grateful to be here.”

He’s grateful for the opportunity to come to the Roughriders’ rookie camp and battle for a spot on the team.

News and notes from Day 2 of rookie camp

The second day of Riders’ rookie camp was not the most crisp day of football.

There were no major big plays, some balls were underthrown or overthrown by quarterbacks and some balls were easily dropped on both sides of the field.

Although there were some mistakes at Griffiths Stadium on Thursday, head coach Corey Mace felt his players were moving well out there.

“I think the guys got to get a taste of it yesterday. We attacked the film and guys are playing with a little bit more tempo, a little bit more speed, understanding the speed of the game, so it’s good to see them react to that,” Mace explained.

Mace said he’s enjoyed watching receivers Wayne Ruby Jr. and Ty James throughout the first two days of rookie camp.

“They understand the waggle and are sure-handed guys,” Mace said. “Those are two guys that I thought stood out yesterday. We’ll tackle the tape and see what happened today and hopefully they take another step, but (I’ve) been very impressed with those two for sure.”

Ruby Jr. was targeted multiple times throughout the day on Thursday.

On the defensive side of the ball, Mace felt defensive back Antoine Brooks Jr. had another good day. He nearly had two interceptions at rookie camp on Thursday, but just couldn’t secure the ball. He also had an interception on Wednesday to open camp.

“He was with us all year last year. He had a good camp, we kept him around. We gave him some looks today at a new position and he was making plays on the ball,” Mace said.

“He was doing good stuff in the run game as well, just showing his versatility not only physically, but mentally, being able to handle multiple positions, it’s tough. He did a good job today.”

The Riders will finish rookie camp on Friday in Saskatoon. The players will be on the field starting at 8:30 a.m.

Main camp gets underway on Sunday also at 8:30 a.m.