Thankful for the Opportunity

I stood on the football field with my team, a silver medal in my hand. I wouldn't put it around my neck... not yet. Later I would appreciate it. The men that I had gone to war with all of these months, coaches and players alike, were either crying or looked like they wanted to cry. It took everything I had not to as well. I told the players that I was proud of them, and to keep their chins up. We all watched as Weyburn lifted the city title to the sky, cheering and screaming in delight. It was like listening to nails on a chalkboard. It was deja vu all over again.

I never thought I would enjoy being a coach. I've never been one to tell people what to do. Even when I was a captain of the football and basketball team in high school, I led by example... let my actions do my speaking for me. But that all changed one day when I received a phone call from Jason Duczek. Duczek had coached me in both high school and junior football, and had just become the new head coach for the O'Neill Titans. He needed a Defensive Back coach, and asked me if I would like the position. At first I was apprehensive about the idea, but decided to give it a try.

The first year I coached was the 2007 season. I really didn't expect much from our team... O'Neill had been a terrible program for many years, and hadn't produced a winning team in God knows when. I remember the very first day of practise was a gong show. I had the largest group to coach, I didn't know any of the kids or what their abilities were, and I had no idea what the heck I was doing.

The DB's and I grew together as we both learned from each other. There were definitely some growing pains, though. I remember there were a few games where the opposition picked my secondary apart. But we worked through the tough times and ended up having a great year, with the team going all the city finals where we lost to Weyburn (we missed a field goal for the wn).

Going into this year's season, I had a veteran group of DB's and I was more knowledgeable about what I wanted to work on with them. The year ended up being tremendous for our defensive backs, and no doubt we had the best secondary in the league. We had close to 20 interceptions in seven games, along with four returned for touchdowns. One of my halfbacks was named an All-Star, while the other was also nominated for the award. Lastly, one of my cornerbacks was not only named an All-Star, but was also named the Stewart Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Our team overall did fantastic, going undefeated throughout the season (which included being the first team to beat Weyburn in three years). And we once again made it to the city final against Weyburn. I thought this was our year... but it was not to be. We were owned all game, and lost 17-0.

What made it all the more difficult was that may have been my last game I'll ever coach. I have no idea what I'll be doing next year, or where I'll be, since I will be graduated from university. The life of a journalist doesn't leave too much free time. But I'll always have the memories, and they were some of the greatest times I've ever had.

Check out the J-School web-site for my latest article. I've interviewed a few of the players from the O'Neill Titans, as well as Head Coach Jason Duczek, about their views of the 2008 season.