As the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in CFL pres-season action in Saskatoon, SK, May 23, 2026. Photo Electric Umbrella/Liam Richards
Hale is in the forecast for Saturday.
Alex Hale is to make his pro football regular-season debut this weekend when he suits up for the Saskatchewan Roughriders against the visiting B.C. Lions.
“It has been a very long journey for me to get to this point, so I’m very excited to get the chance to play for the Roughriders,” the 28-year-old Australian-born kicker said after Tuesday’s practice.
“It’s an amazing team and an amazing place to play.”
Saturday’s CFL game is set for 5 p.m., at Mosaic Stadium. Fans will want to arrive early for a 2025 Grey Cup championship banner unveiling that is to precede the opening kickoff.
Although Hale wasn’t with the Roughriders last season, he already possesses impressive championship credentials.
As a teenager, he won a gold medal at the world junior (under-19) wakeskating championships in Abu Dhabi, Dubai. Wakeskating is a hybrid of wakeboarding and skateboarding.
“I grew up by the waters and I grew up surfing,” Hale recalled. “It’s just something I’ve always been interested in. I love water sports and board sports.
“It was just a hobby at first. Then I got better and better and looked into competitions. I loved competing.”
Not to mention the adrenalin rush.
“I was flying around at 30 miles an hour, off jumps and rails and stuff,” Hale continued. “It was definitely good fun. I haven’t done it in a long time.”
Hale’s first sporting passion was soccer, which he played for about 10 years until turning his attention to wakeskating.
“In Australia, there was a program that started for the 2022 World Cup,” he said. “They gathered all the good junior soccer players and grouped them together to try to start the development early. I was in that group, training three or four times a week from the age of 10 years old.
“It was very serious early on. (Soccer) is another sport I love.”
After high school — and already an accomplished athlete in two disciplines — Hale turned his attention to kicking North American-style footballs.
With the objective of mastering a third sport, he moved to California and began training with former NFL placement specialist John Carney — who now mentors kickers and punters.
A quick study, Hale developed his kicking skills to the point where U.S. college football was an option.
He joined the Oklahoma State Cowboys as a walk-on in 2018 and was redshirted that season. In 2019, he dressed for two games and handled kickoffs.
A breakout year followed in 2020, when he went 13-for-14 on field-goal attempts — a 92.9-per-cent accuracy rate — before suffering a season-ending knee injury during warmups for the Cowboys’ seventh game of the season.
Hale played in six games during the 2021 season (going 3-for-6) before focusing on kickoffs in 2022.
“A lot of athletes go through struggles and injuries,” he said. “It’s important to have a good support system — a good family and good people around you. You just focus on the goal, rehab as hard as you train, and eventually you get back to where you want to be.”
Hale was reinstalled as Oklahoma State’s placekicker in 2023, going 27-for-34 (79.4%) and leading the NCAA in field goals per game (2.08). Three of his three-pointers exceeded 50 yards (53, 53, 52).
For the second time, Hale was a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza Award, which is presented annually to the best kicker in U.S. college football.
After graduating from Oklahoma State, Hale had stints with the Green Bay Packers in 2024 and 2025. He signed with Saskatchewan on April 17 and, over the course of training camp and the pre-season, outlasted American-born kickers Michael Hughes and Jonathan Kim.
While pleased to make the final roster, Hale didn’t respond to the good news in demonstrative fashion.
“I don’t mean this in a bad way, but he’s emotionless when he’s out there,” Head Coach Corey Mace said. “He’s not going to get rattled. He’s going to stay the course.
“I asked him, ‘Where do you want the ball? On what hash?’ He said, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ He’s dialled, man, and he’s a pro’s pro. He’s very meticulous in what he likes to do.
“We’ve been pleased with the kid and we look forward to his season.”
Mace’s characterization of Hale as “emotionless” is in line with a nickname — Iceman — that was applied by his soccer coach, once upon a time.
“That has always been my mindset,” he said. “I’m definitely very serious. On the outside, I probably just look laid-back and relaxed.
“I’m very excited. I may not show that sometimes, but I definitely am.”
