Why do I coach? How long have you got?

Personal accolades are nice but the sparkle in the player's eyes is the reason I coach.
Barrie Sports Hall of Fame 2003 Coach of the Year.

There's a long answer to the question posed in the title but suffice it to say, it has very much to do with paying it forward. To fully answer that, I have to give you a small history lesson …

Lesson ONE: My father was an incredible athlete who enjoyed his fair share of success. His crowning achievement IMHO was being selected to the Queen’s University Football Hall of Fame but there were a multitude of similar achievements in his earlier days. He was an outstanding baseball and hockey player as well, drawing the attention of the pros in the late 50’s. He was so well respected that his classmates at East York Collegiate created an annual Terry Porter Athletic Award in memory of him when he succumbed to cancer in 2006.

Lesson TWO: With all of this in mind, it’s not a stretch to understand that he passed on some of that to his 4 sons. I am the oldest and, therefore, carry the torch for living up to the “old man”. Honestly though, I have always found the greatest peace when being involved in something athletic. I played a host of sports through elementary and earned accolades for it on Hillcrest PS’s graduation night back in 1977. I was involved in a number of things outside of school as well and I really believe that had a lot to do with developing my natural athleticism, contributing to much of my later successes. I have very fond memories of some really nice people who were my coaches during those years, and they left a lasting impression on me that drives me to ensure that future generations of students got the same helping hand that I did.

I have to confess that the real magic happened when I made the move to Barrie Central. I immediately gravitated to any sport that I could fit into the 12 hours or so I had for activity each day. There were years there were I would be involved in 6 sports a year … volleyball + football in the fall, basketball + gymnastics in the winter and rugby + track in the spring. This couldn’t happen if the coaches involved weren’t flexible with their expectations, practicing in the morning or letting me miss a practice for a game in another sport. I wasn’t an MVP in everything, but I was definitely part of the puzzle, enough so that I was on the receiving end of more accolades upon graduation in 1982 ... The same accolade would be bestowed on my son Keaton in 2015 ... Slap Happy Pappy Moment!

It was during this part of my life that I realized how awesome athletics were and what doors they opened for me, eventually developing the notion that coaching was where I wanted to end up. Unfortunately, if I wished to stay a Canadian living in Canada, I really had to accept teaching as a career since it was the only way to coach and get paid. As I stated in a previous post, the decision where to go to university was already made so I applied to, and was accepted to, Queen’s for Phys Ed … What else? I would have to admit that while my most successful sport at Central was football, the one I loved most dear was basketball. With that in mind, I had intentions of playing university basketball, but the Porter legacy was too strong, and as arrogant as it sounds, I accepted that I had to choose football ... Oh, it was such a burden to be able to choose between two varsity sports! HaHa! If you don’t know me well enough to know how it went, I’ll just say that I was very blessed during those years to play with a group of guys that remain some of my greatest friends to this day.

So much for the history lesson! In the end, after toying with the idea of following my father into medicine or physiotherapy, I came to realize that teaching was where I felt I was meant to be ... besides the fact that I couldn't force myself to study enough to get the 80's or 90's I needed. Unfortunately, I did get a little side-tracked with the bar scene in downtown Kingston for a couple of years … Maybe I’ll tell that story later on … but when I applied to Teacher’s College, I didn’t get in? Not enough experience? Plan B meant that I applied to a special program in Kingston which allowed me to get some much-needed experience coaching so I could re-apply with a better resume. That’s how football and basketball at LCVI fits in to the timeline. Although not a perfect solution, and with a little help from a friend of my father, I was able to gain entrance to York University’s primary education program in 1990, dragging Joyce to Holland Landing for a year as I attended classes at a satellite campus in Newmarket. That was an experience unto itself ... Maybe a post on that later.

The Education System has changed quite a bit. While recent graduates from Teacher’s College these days have to put in a ridiculous 8-10 years before they get a contract, I graduated in May, interviewed in June and got a contract position right away with a start in September 1991. I was now an official professional coach-teacher (or is it teacher-coach?) and I couldn’t wait to give those kids the same awesome experience that I had received!

*As a side story, my teacher’s interview was a serious déjà vu moment when I saw that the three principals conducting it were 3 of the principals I had growing up. We spent a chunk of the interview simply catching up and talking about the out-of-class things I was willing to bring to a school. Yes, things in education have certainly changed.

Every coach has their own personal reasons for how they wish their experience to be shaped. Some simply wish to give the kids the opportunity at something outside of class, while others wish that experience to be more competitive, but a small group will operate from day one like it’s an elite program. Rightly or wrongly, that last group was the more alluring to me. As an athlete, it made perfect sense to me that if they were going to keep score then I wanted the win … convincingly. My early coaching experience was heavily tainted by that attitude and I confess I likely rubbed a couple of families the wrong way. That’s not an apology, but simply an acknowledgement that I have learned a ton since I started. Don’t get me wrong, I still think I enter each game with a win as focus, but I think that I am more relaxed about it these days. Throughout all those years, I have been blessed to work with a high percentage of athletes who share my competitive streak and it is my profound belief that it has resulted in what I believe to be rare company when the list of achievements is posted.

This is a long list and, in no way, shape or form is it meant to be arrogant, but I am extremely proud that I was able to give a host of athletes the opportunity to strive for excellence and achieve some very satisfying results:

3 National Gold … U15 Basketball 2004, 2005 & U16 Rugby 2010

4 National Silver … U16 Rugby 2008, 2009 & U17 Rugby 2011, 2012

1 OCAA Gold … GC Men’s Rugby 2016

2 OCAA Silver … GC Men’s Rugby 2015, 2018

2 OCAA Bronze … GC Men’s Rugby 2014, 2017

7 OFSAA Gold … Sr Boys Rugby 1999, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015

5 OFSAA Silver … Sr Boys Rugby 2000, 2005, 2012, 2014 & Sr Girls Basketball 2011

4 OFSAA Bronze … Sr Boys Rugby 2001, 2003, 2010 & Sr Boys Basketball 1999

1 OFSAA Antique Bronze … Sr Boys Rugby 2009

1 OFSAA Consolation Championship … Sr Boys Rugby 2019

32 GBSSA championships … Boys Basketball 1999, 2003, 2007, 2012 + Girls Basketball 2005, 2009-2012 + Sr Boys Football 2000 + Sr Boys Rugby 1999-2005, 2007-2016, 2019 + Swimming 2007-2010
3 Basketball Ontario Club Medals ... Gold Juvenile Boys 1998, Bronze Juvenile Boys 1997, Bronze Midget Boys 1995
1 Simcoe County Elementary Championship ... Int Boys Basketball (Portage View PS)
1 Simcoe County Elementary Bronze .... Int Boys Basketball (Maple Grove PS)
Barrie Sports Hall of Fame ... 2003 Coach of the Year

3 Olympic Athletes … Megan Lukan, Women’s 7s Rugby 2016 and then sister Kaili and Emma Chown play for Rugby Canada 7s in 2020

3 Professional Athletes … Kayla Alexander, Women’s Basketball, Taylor Paris, Men’s Rugby and Carl Haworth, Men's Soccer (but he played rugby for me) ... Maybe soon to be 4 if Gussi Mozzato breaks through ... he's really close!

National & Provincial Team Members … Too many in rugby to list in fear of forgetting someone ... see photo below of BCC students but near and dear to my heart is my son Keaton who was a U20 Team Canada member (see the Central Wall of Fame photo) + Steve McLean, Megan Lukan, Kayla Alexander, Kaili Lukan and Mackenzie Morrison (Basketball)
NCAA + CIS level players ... A long list in Rugby, Basketball and Swimming (Not the least of which was my daughter Maddison at Waterloo!)

The Barrie Central Wall of Fame ... Players who rep'd Ontario or Canada in rugby

To any of the athletes that I have coached in the variety of sports I have been involved in … If you took the time to read this, I thank you so, so much for being a part of my life’s ambition. I urge you to consider staying involved past your playing days by paying it forward and coaching the next generation of eager youngsters looking for someone to give them direction, time and a hand in achieving their dreams. Let's be honest ... When helping someone else reach for their dreams helps you reach for your dreams, there's really no greater sense of accomplishment.