A cast the size of a club surrounded Matthew Steele’s right hand as he watched from the sideline as rival Fountain-Fort Carson walloped his Doherty Spartans in October.

The senior captain was devastated. Two days before the game, Steele broke his right hand – his snapping hand – and was out for one of the biggest games of his senior season. Unable to help, the center watched the Spartans fall 42-6 and drop to 4-3.

The next week, the captain announced he wouldn’t miss another game. He snapped the ball with his left hand the rest of the season and helped his team make the Class 5A playoffs.

“That showed what Spartan football is all about,” Doherty coach Jeff Krumlauf said. “Doing anything and everything to help your team reach that common goal on Friday night. That was something Matt showed to younger guys in what it means to be a Spartan. He has it in his blood.”

Six months later – with two healthy hands – Steele received an invitation to play for the U.S. Under-19 National Team, which will travel to Harbin, China, later this month to play in the 2016 International Federation of American Football World Championship.

The IFAF is the international governing body of American football and the organization runs the Under-19 World Championship every two years in different host countries. The United States outscored its opponents 186-31 in its four games en route to the IFAF championship in Kuwait two years ago.

The team will meet at Kean University in Union, N.J., on Friday for a week of practice before departing for China on June 24.

Steele and players from around the country competed in a series of USA Football camps, earning spots on the Under-19 National and Select teams. The two teams played in the International Bowl against Canada’s U-18 and U-19 national teams in January, and invitations for the World Championship team were sent out later.

In April, the offensive lineman received a letter from USA Football. He knew immediately.

“I didn’t think (going to China for the World Championship) would be one of the things that would happen,” Steele said. “I just wanted to get my name out there.”

Steele started going to USA Football camps after his sophomore year, hoping to float his name around to college coaches and recruiters. The big-bodied center proved himself during a two-day camp in Denver and was invited to Texas for a week-long training camp later that year.

The next year, Steele returned to the national camp with teammate Justice Littrell. Littrell now plays for the University of Northern Colorado, where Steele will join him in the fall.

“Both Justice and MJ have paved the way for Doherty kids to represent their country,” Krumlauf said.

Steele’s Under-19 Select team lost to Canada’s Under-18 national team 31-13 in January at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, but the experience of playing in the 80,000-seat NFL stadium was amazing, he said.

The center looks forward to putting on the stars and stripes again, this time in China.

“(Playing for the U.S.) is unlike anything (I’ve ever experienced),” Steele said. “You play for your high school, but playing for your country is something else.”

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will.jarvis@gazettedev.gazette.com

Matt Steele, who will be playing for Team USA U19 football team this summer, is pictured at the Gazette on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT

Matt Steele, who will be playing for Team USA U19 football team this summer, is pictured at the Gazette on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Photo by Stacie Scott, The Gazette

STACIE SCOTT