Viktor Lachambre: From Quebec to NFL via England

Montreal – Each day is mainly in the same way for Viktor Lachambre. In the gymnasium at 6:30 a.m. for an hour of bodybuilding.

There follows a schedule to be dizzy.

• 7:45 am: Lunch
• 10 am: Start of class lessons
• 12 p.m.: Dinner
• 1:15 p.m.: First team meeting
• 2:30 p.m.: Field training
• 5 p.m.: Supper

Once satisfied, the Quebecer participates in a second meeting, before retreating in his room around 8 p.m. The old dynamics of Charles-Lemoyne college is soon to turn off the lights. Dodo time has been set at 10 p.m.

“It’s like that every day … except the times when we have three hours of lessons. »»

Welcome to the life of the NFL Academy Quarterrier No. 1.

In Loughborough, England.

Coaches‼️ Highlights from my first 2 NFL Academy games vs Hun School (ranked #1 prep in US) & Edgewater HS (ranked #13 in FL).

Stats (1.5 games)
– 422 passing yds, 29/43 (67%), 3 TDs
– 141 rushing yds ( 8.6 yards per carry ) @_ Coachturner @georgereynolds_ @ECWagnac @jay_agenor pic.twitter.com/70JmtJ671j

— Viktor Lachambre (@Vik_Lachambre18)
September 5, 2025“/>

***

It is in this locality located at around thirty minutes by car from Leicester, in the advantageous sports facilities of the University of Loughborough, that the NFL hopes to train its international succession of tomorrow.

Each year since its creation in 2019, the Academy offers athletes from 16 to 19 years old, mainly from Europe and Africa a full -time secondary education, in parallel with an intensive training in American football, whether or not they have practiced sport.

The goal? Foster the development of football worldwide, while creating a bridge for young international talents likely to inflate the NCAA staff, official supplier of the NFL.

According to the latest count of NFL Academy-which added last year an antenna serving the Asia-Pacific region-40 of its former players play this fall in the American university circuit, including 27 in Division 1.

Lachambre, the first Canadian in history to join the project that brings together 68 players from 20 countries this year, plans to become one of them within two years.

Welcome to the #NFLAcademy @Vik_Lachambre18!

🇨🇦 The quarterback will be the first Canadian to join the team based in Loughborough, UK.

Viktor will complete his academic studies and train at our elite facilities to prepare him to play games for our Europe-Africa squad. pic.twitter.com/ySxFo5CkT7

— NFL Academy (@NFLAcademy)
April 18, 2025“/>

***

Continuing its development on another continent was not the Plan A of Lachambre.

Like many Quebec talented players, a quarter of 6 pi 4 in and 179 LB had the reflex to assess its options in the United States at the conclusion of its last season in the dynamics, last winter.

North Crowley’s programs in Texas and Dematha in Maryland, two powerful “High Schools” today classified in the Top-25 in the country, first told him. His graduate status in Quebec made him unacceptable to join them.

Lachambre then did like the Maxence Leblanc, Jérémy St-Hilaire, Antoine Deslauriers and many others before him. He turned to reputed preparatory schools accustomed to recruiting in the beautiful province. Baylor and McCallie in Tennessee, or Rabun Gap in Georgia, among others, had no opening at the quarter-arre post.

Lachambre was therefore preparing to continue his journey in the Quebec college network with the Phoenix of André-Grasset, to whom he had committed, when a gala evening changed everything.

It was last February, at the annual RSEQ banquet rewarding the most deserving of the last season of juvenile provincial school football. With a campaign during which he accumulated 2358 yards of earnings by the pass, 786 by the race, and orchestrated 33 affected by his own, the leader of the dynamics was crowned player par excellence of the Division 1 circuit.

A reward which from his publicization on social media soon aroused the interest of the offensive coordinator and coach of the quarter-rear of NFL Academy, Clayton Turner.

“Direct afterwards, he texts me on Instagram,” said Lachambre at the RDS.ca earlier this week.

“He presented the program, asked me a few questions, then we set for an appointment for a meeting on Zoom. »»

The presentations, in which all the coaches participated, lasted around thirty minutes, after which Lachambre and Turner came to the heart of the matter.

“Since he (Turner) arrived at NFL Academy, he has always wanted to be a Dual-Threat quarter (Double-Menace by the pass and the race, editor’s note). The whole game book was ready for me. They would get involved as much by the pass as by the race. »»

Lachambre was charmed. Not only would the game book adapt to the assets it wanted to expose to NCAA programs, it was also going to refine them under the mentoring of experienced coaches.

.@_ Coachturner learned from some of the very best during his time at @CanesFootball 🇺🇸

Now he’s teaching our next generation of elite athletes! pic.twitter.com/9djGJdkNp1

— NFL Academy (@NFLAcademy)
September 3, 2025“/>

Turner, on the one hand, has already played in the NCAA at the quarter-arre and recipient posts. Head coach Steve Hagen has occupied assistant coach positions among Cleveland Browns and New York Jets, in addition to having led in a dozen universities, notably Notre-Dame and North Carolina.

“Their knowledge really attracted me. »»

Just like the offensive weapons he was going to have in his arsenal. According to his counting, two of his receivers have already received division 1 offers, as are four of his offensive line players.

“It also convinced me because I said to myself that if I was doing well, I was going to be noticed by these universities who already watch these players. They may be wondering: “Who is this quarter-Arrière?”. »»

***

Lachambre and his teammates – two of whom are Quebecois: Zian Iseghohi and Andrew Gomon – have so far played two of the nine games on their calendar.

The first, disputed in Dublin against The Hun School of Princeton, an American preparatory school in New Jersey, resulted in a gain of 34-21 during which the Quebecer launched three Touché passes.

It was the perfect way to start the season.

1st Drive. 1st Touchdown. ✅@Vik_Lachambre18 @Vili_haapasalo @Apartment_pichon1 @nathanKmorris pic.twitter.com/P06HYPxLem

— NFL Academy (@NFLAcademy)
August 23, 2025“/>

The second was, let’s say … not bad more complicated.

During a transatlantic trip to Orlando in Florida to face Edgewater High School, NFL Academy did not make the weight. Defeat without appeal of 42-7.

“The speed in Florida is anything,” Lachambre quickly noted, however happy to have rubbed at such a level. Because there lies another of the main advantages of playing for NFL Academy: to face the best on some of the biggest stages.

In less than a month, on October 8, the international selection will welcome on the lawn of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the raiders of St. Thomas Aquinas, an institution of Fort Lauderdale in Florida decorated with three national titles, 16 state championships, and currently ranked 9th in the United States.

An NFL Academy match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the Spartans of the Hall in 2024.

It is however the duel of October 17, in Bradenton in Florida, that Lachambre is most impatiently awaiting. On that day, the NFL academicians will visit IMG Academy, another superpower of American secondary football which when writing these lines occupies the 5th row nationwide.

“It is their Senior Nightso they may think it will be a matchup easy. If I do well against this team, I am sure that there will be universities of division 1 which will be interested in me. »»

Until now, Lachambre claims to receive interest from programs like Princeton, Dartmouth, Rice and more recently South Florida, while waiting to receive his first scholarship offer.

“For international players who play outside the United States, it’s really slower as a process,” he said. When you finally receive your first offer, it breaks the ice, you can receive ten. But it is to obtain the first which is the most difficult. »»

Lachambre is hopeful that it will materialize this year. The recent success of Sam Fenton, who became the first British quarter to join a Division 1 program in the NCAA (South Florida) after his training course at the NFL Academy, inspires confidence.

It is possible for a quarter to go through loughborough to access the NCAA and thus approach its dream.

“I am ready to sacrifice everything to go to the NFL. Even living on the other side of the ocean, far from my family. »»