Since their inception in 1945, the Calgary Stampeders have, obviously, been a team in Southern Alberta.

But more and more in recent years, the Stamps are a team from Southern Alberta.

Each and every season, the Stampeders are adding just a little more local spice to the recipe that has allowed the Red and White to post four consecutive double-digit win seasons since John Hufnagel took over as head coach and general manager.

In the past off-season alone, Calgary has loaded up with locals such as Mark Dewit (a Calgary native who played for Bishop Carroll high school and the U of C Dinos), Matt Walter (Calgarian who played with Bishop O’Byrne and then for the Dinos), Jadon Wagner (Lethbridge product who played for the Calgary Colts juniors) and Prince Baffoh (Colts).

In the previous off-season, Henry Wise Wood high school and Colts alumnus Spencer Wilson, Okotoks/Dinos product Anthony Parker and Three Hills native John Bender all joined the fold.

Those guys were added to a local contingent that already featured Lethbridge native Jon Gott, the Pride of Cochrane — Rob Cote — and Johnny Forzani, a Calgarian who attended E.P. Scarlett high school and played for the Colts.

And that’s not even counting guys like Dimitri Tsoumpas (Edmonton) and J’Micheal Deane (Hinton) who hail from the northern part of the province.

The Southern Alberta talent has come to Calgary in a variety of ways. Some (Walter, Parker, Bender and Gott) were Stampeders draft picks. Others (Dewit and Wagner) came via the trade while Baffoh, Wilson and Cote were free agents. Forzani came via the supplemental draft.

The Stamps have long been supporters of university, junior, high school and minor football in Calgary and the surrounding area and it seems only fitting that the fruits of those levels have wound up wearing the Stampeders colours.

It’s also rewarding to hear a local player talk about the pride he feels playing for his hometown team.

“I’ve lived in Calgary my whole life,” said Dewit, an offensive lineman acquired in a Jan. 2 trade with Hamilton. “I went to Bishop Carroll high school, I played at the University of Calgary. So I’ve played at McMahon Stadium, just never as a member of the home team in the CFL so it’s exciting to finally get that chance.”