“… A place to stand, a place to grow … Ontaree-aree-aree-O”

I feel that I have truly been blessed with opportunities that allowed me to chase my coaching dreams. I loved the early years, learning to be a better educator, learning patience, learning to calm my competitive juices. One drawback of coaching in schools is the exclusive clientele that you’re forced to work with. For that single reason, the lure of coaching elite teams was my Kryptonite. I wanted that feel of working with athletes that not only had the passion and drive to excel but also that incredible athleticism AND I could choose from a population larger than a school … or even a city.

Basketball Ontario 2004

My first taste of elite coaching came thanks to Basketball Ontario U15 boys when Jonathan “Big Jon” Smith and I were hired in the summer of 2004. Big Jon and I had known each other for a few years, mostly coaching against each other in both club and B-Ont. What we soon discovered was that we were perfectly suited for each other’s personalities and styles. We had A LOT of laughs that first summer! We were blessed to have a bumper crop of young ballers to choose from so we were giddy little school boys when we were making the final choices. Nationals were to be held in Halifax that summer, hosted by St Mary’s U, and we soon found out that many of the boys we chose had never been outside to the right coast of Canada. Having East Coast roots, I knew they were in for an interesting experience what with the sights and sounds of Halifax combined with the touristy things like Peggy’s Cove. The final 12 ended up being quite the cross section of cultures and backgrounds but what they had in common was a real GRIT … A drive to meet pressure head on.

Back: Adam Jespersen, Jason Wang, Jonathan House, Davoe Joseph, Jamie Clem, Yours Truly, Big Jon, Dwayne Smith
Kneeling: Al Alilovic, Junior Cadougan     Sitting: Mathew Priestly, Keaton Cole, Jason Burke 

One of the players, Jason Wang, was a giant at 15 years old, 6’6” and 230 lb, and a 1^st generation Chinese national. When mixed in with the Jungle + Flemo + Jane-finch boys and sprinkled with some Tri-County spicing … It was the recipe for a lot of laughter complete with learning how to cheer (and jeer) in Mandarin! I am quite sure the locals were scratching their heads as the BIFFO’s (Big Ignorant F@*$ From Ontario) were shouting things that made little or no sense and then laughing hysterically … coaches included!

In the end, the stars aligned, we matched up with BC “(who were led by 6’10” teenage phenom and future NBA’er Robert Sacre) as was forecasted and as the game came down to the wire when John “Assassin” House drilled 2 consecutive 3’s to seal the game. Adam, Jamie, Jason and Al had great CIS careers; Matthew, Keaton, Dwayne, Jonathan, Davoe, Junior and Adam headed south to the NCAA.

Some memories of that team’s players …

Keaton “KK” Cole who was incredulous that we had named our white-blonde, cherubic son Keaton because, “That’s a brutha’s name, coach!”

Jason Wang, it turned out, a maestro on the piano, treating us to some pretty awesome personal concerts.

Dwayne Smith was the team “Class Clown”, always with a twinkle in his eye and a huge smile on his face.

Junior Cadougan was underage but that didn’t stop him from putting up some pretty impressive numbers throughout the nationals.

Basketball Ontario 2005

In the second year of our contract, Big Jon and I had time to critically evaluate the previous summer’s successes and failures, conjure up a plan to make it better, then think long and hard about the athletes we thought could execute that plan. We knew that there were some true talents in the mix … kids who had very bright futures if they chased their dreams with passion and commitment. Jon had a buddy that did uniforms through a cousin in Philippines, so we got some old-school satin basketball jackets made up and presented them to the players we selected in from of the entire MDP camp (see the photo). They were a HUGE hit and we even proudly represented atop the peaks in Banff! We ended up playing BC in the final again at the Nationals in Calgary held at Mount Royal College and I’m very pleased to tell you that it was a very convincing win with the outcome never in doubt as we lead from start to finish.

Alex Hill, Jeremy Trader, Scott Laws, Mike Allison, Tyler Murray, Kyle Smendziuk, Janathan Tull, Dan McCarthy, Alwayne Bigby, Jamie Asefa, Alex Arthurs, Goran Kovacs ... And some bald guy!

The team we would ultimately select was led by 6’5” Alwayne Bigby, a slashing wing who could single-handedly take over games. Once again, were would blessed with a great mix of kids from communities all over Ontario, from Ottawa all the way to Windsor. Supporting Alwayne were a host of guys who would go on to some pretty impressive accomplishments. Alex H, Scott, Kyle, Dan and Goran would go on to great CIS careers while Tyler, Alex A, Jonathan, Mike, Alwayne, and Jamie headed south to the NCAA. Jeremy switched over to football and enjoyed a great CIS experience. While I’ve maintained contact through FB with some of these guys, I’ve lost touch with some of these guys, so I hope they’re all doing well.

Some memories from that tournament …

We rented some vans and pointed them west to the Rockies, much to the dismay of the boys … “They’re just rocks, coach!” … only to have the volume of the chirps slowly fade as we got closer and closer, their necks craning as they struggled to see the top of the peaks as we drove into Banff.

Alwayne was not impressed that we were going up the mountain, and in the gondola ride up, took on a lighter shade of gray covered with nervous perspiration, but recovered well enough to thank me sincerely as he stood “On top o’ da world …” and was, “Feelin’ pretty small, coach!” Big Jon and I won the Pepsi Cup, an impromptu dance contest, resplendent in our matching Hawaiian shirts. Scott Laws set the tone for tournament when, during the opening minutes of our first game vs Nova Scotia, slashed in from the left wing with a thunderous dunk.

Rugby Ontario 2007+2008+2009

Through a series of events that is a really long story, I made the jump from Basketball Ontario to Rugby Ontario. I never would have considered the move if not for a question from then Director of Rugby, Glenn Traver, who I had got to know through coaching at Central. He was interested to know, if I wasn’t going to coach basketball anymore, would I consider joining Rugby Ontario? Sounded like a good plan, and it only got better when I was teamed up with Nick Rowe (who would go on to be a good friend in both rugby and OFSAA) to coach the U15s. It is ludicrous now, but we had players like Andrew Ferguson, Tay Paris, Jon West, and Cam Stones (to name only a few) who would go on to wear the Maple Leaf with pride in a variety of international games.

2007 Rugby Ontario U15's - Newfoundland Tour
Central's Tay Paris + Jesse Twigg

2008 Rugby Ontario U16's - National Silver Medallists
Central's Tay Paris + Jesse Twigg

2009 Rugby Ontario U16's - National Silver Medallists
Central's Mack Chown, Bear Creek's Mark Laing, Nantyr's Johnny LaPlaca and North's Madison McCarthy

All three years were an awesome experience and I was definitely feeling pretty great … Except that the “Evil Empire” … BC … kept beating us in the final at Nationals. During those 3 years, there really wasn’t any doubt about the strongest provincial programs and I was introduced to the vocal concerns of the other provinces as they examined whether or not they would continue to participate. I can confidently tell you that the quality of the experience for my team as A #1, with players and their families making life-long memories.

SIDENOTE: One of the great pleasures during this time was the Barrie representation on each team, many of which were Central kids. In 2007 there were Taylor Paris + Jesse Twigg from Central; in 2009 and a new crop of players, Mack Chown from Central, Mark Laing from Bear Creek, Madison McCarthy from North and Johnny LaPlaca from Nantyr Shores continued the Barrie invasion.

Rugby Ontario 2010

After 3 years of defeats at the hands of the “Empire”, I was really ready to change the final outcome. We were heading out to Calgary for Nationals and we had a really talented group … Was this the year? The Calgary Rugby Park is quite the facility and the stadium was rocking on the day of the finals. Like the previous few years, the finals pitted ON vs BC, but what was different this time was both U16 and U18 were hosted in the same place! This meant that the players I had grown to know so well during their U15 and U16 years were now stalwarts on the U18 team! We were up first and, like so often before, each team took turns taking a lead but as the clock slowly counted down to the end, BC had a narrow lead and I must admit that I grew anxious that we could end up with Silver yet again. Those fears were laid to rest when our FH, Mike Perelli, found a crack in the defence and scampered 20 m for the try and the Gold Medal! I was smiling pretty widely and stood at center pitch letting the moment wash over me when a tap on my shoulder startled me to attention. It was Taylor going out of his way to give me a great big hug as congratulations, and then true to Paris fashion, reminded me that his team had their own Gold to win and I could go watch from the fully licensed patio in the southwest corner of the park. Wait! I can bask in the glory of Gold, with a pitcher in my hand, and watch my former players kick the “Evil Empire” to the curb? Had I died, gone to Rugby Heaven, and not realized it? A quick pinch proved that theory wrong … Get the Mastercard out and get ready for kick off. You might be interested to know, however, that the plethora of U16 parents on tour with us made sure that my own Mastercard stayed safely in my pocket! The day got better and better by the minute as I thoroughly enjoyed watching the U18's DESTROY the Empire in their game. 

2010 Rugby Ontario U16's - National Champions
There are more than a few faces here that went on to some pretty impressive rugby things!

Rugby Ontario 2011+2012+2013

2011, 2012 and 2013 were my Rugby Ontario “Golden Years” because Keaton had finally decided that rugby was his passion and asked to try out for Team Ontario. Was it a little awkward, being a coach of your son’s team? Sure, it definitely was, but my coaching mates went out of their way to manage it all, and I had a front row seat to watch KP make some of his best friends throughout those years.

In 2011, Rugby Canada was trying some new things and it was decided that Rugby Ontario would represent at the Eastern Canadian Championships to be played in Moncton, NB. When we first got the coaching staff together, we found out that we would selected enough lads for two teams; one to go on the traditional Newfoundland tour (like I did the first time I coached U15) and the other team would compete in the Eastern Canadians. KP worked really hard that summer to develop into a tidy SH and was selected to be a part of the team to travel to Moncton, and much to my relief, I was asked to travel there too! I like to think of it as a little gift for siring a stud like KP ... HaHa! The tour was awesome complete with some touristy things and some fantastic rugby! It would be the beginning of a string of awesomeness for the next few summers.

2011 Rugby Ontario U15's - Eastern Canadian Champions

2012, the Nationals were to be played in Sherbrooke, QB, at Bishop’s U and I was really looking forward to having a front row seat! The lead up went pretty much how everyone expected and the final was once again ON v BC with the odds makers giving a slight edge to BC. Barrie was represented by Keaton, Alex Charest-Pekeski and Corbin Valyear … all Central players who were fresh off winning the Jr High School Barbarian Cup. The game lived up to the billing with BC taking an early lead before ON stormed back in the second half, only to fall just short in the final minutes. I was silently thrilled that Keaton a whale of a game when he got in early in the second half, but we would both feel the Empire’s sting at the final whistle, falling just short … For me, AGAIN! It was a personal gold-plated moment being able to represent Ontario as a coach AND a father.

2012 Rugby Ontario u16's - National Silver Medallists
Central's Keaton Porter, Alex Charest-Pekeski and Corbyn Valyear

2013 was another set of firsts in my coaching career since KP and I had a long chat that year, agreeing that the family rugby torch had to be passed from father to son, and I would step away from Rugby Ontario so he could “find his own way” … Which is code for Butt Out Dad! HaHa! This posed a proper problem, however, since I now had to fund my own way to the National tournament which were being hosted at UBC in Vancouver. My mischievous little mind conjured up a plan to deal with this … fund the flight out and offer myself to Rugby Ontario as videographer in exchange for room and board. Thankfully, a deal was struck, and I was a very happy camper! Representing Barrie this year were Keaton and Alex again, but they were joined by fellow Centralites Garret Slingerland and Gabe Beneteau plus Ian Smith from Innisdale. Unfortunately, the “Evil Empire” bested us again and Ontario had to settle for Silver. Damn you, BC, damn you!

2013 Rugby Ontario U17's - National Silver Medallists
Central's Keaton Porter, Alex Charest-pekeski, Garret Slingerland and Gabe Beneteau PLUS Innisdale's Ian Smith

During those wonderful years with Rugby Ontario, I met a whole cadre of talented players, formed rugby friendships with a host of coaches, collected some pretty awesome memories and even had a front row seat to my son’s rise as a nationally known player. Despite how busy it was during a time that most in education were recharging, I wouldn’t change a thing! Well … other than beating the Empire a few more times!

Besides, by this time, Georgian College had come calling, but that, as they say, is another story.