As the title says, I have a secret to tell. The honest truth is that teaching right now, with the semester winding down, my exams all prepared, not spending hours coaching, not doing GBSSA/OFSAA stuff ... Well, I'm a little bored. Don't get me wrong, not the, "I'm having second thoughts about retiring" bored. More like, "Well I got that done ... check ... and that ... check ... and that ... check ... what's left?" bored. I didn't realize until now how many minutes all of the out-of-class stuff sucked out of my day.I've written at length about coaching so I won't "flog a dead horse" ... such a curious saying ... but I haven't written about my experiences with GBSSA in general, the GBSSA Executive, OFSAA in general, and the OFSAA Executive.
In the fall of 1998 when I was hired at Barrie Central and moved to the secondary panel from the elementary. I received a phone call from an old friend, Terry Olaskey. Terry used to teach at Central, coached my brother Mike, was a huge basketball guy and, at the time of this call, the lead of HPE at Eastview. Terry, along with North's John Knapp, was responsible for the creation of the Barrie Royals so we enriched our friendship through me coaching with the Royals.
Terry was phoning to talk to me about the GBSSA Executive and whether or not I would be interested in joining. After the perfunctory "You'd be so great for GBSSA" and such, he finally explained that the VP position was open, and joining would be a 3 year commitment transitioning VP to Pres to Past Pres. Although interested, I had a stroke of matrimonial brilliance, choosing to run it by Joyce first. "I'll get back to you tomorrow." was my reply. Despite some initial concern, Joyce could tell that I had that oh-so-familiar gleam in my eyes and relented with a shrug, "It's only 3 years, we'll manage it." Oh Ho Ho ... you silly, silly girl ... 3 years? That decision led to a multi-year plunge into service for my association and community, other than a very brief pause for 4 years while I coached the Georgian College Men's Basketball program. During those years I served GBSSA as VP, President, Secretary, and OFSAA rep, then OFSAA on Executive Council and Championship Review. I met a TON of like-minded people from across Ontario, many of which who became good friends ... people I went out of my way to visit when travelling around the province.
What I didn't realize until this semester, was the volume of time that I spent working on problems, issues and concerns that had little to do with life in a classroom. I can safely say, comparing my days now to days during the previous 18 or so years, that 60-70 minutes a day would be an accurate average. Obviously, some days were more, some were less, but getting those minutes back has meant that I have all of my marking up to date, my planning extends more than a few days into the future, and I now rarely have work that needs to be done at home, making time for other pursuits ... like BLOGS! HaHa!
Let me set the record straight! None of what I wrote is a gripe or complaint! I truly enjoyed what I was doing ... almost every minute ... except transfers ... Just kidding, ven they were fine 90% of the time. Tooting my own horn a bit, I feel that I am leaving having been a positive influence on the growth and development of athletics in GBSSA and OFSAA, and as the saying goes, "Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life!" I got a kick out of becoming the "Transfer Guy" that so many reached out to for input and advice. I took great pride in taking the role into the 21st century by making the transfer process on-line. There have been loads of people who have worked hard for the cause, but I can confidently say none worked harder.
Whenever you center people out from a group, you risk insulting someone else, but there are some individuals that I would like to publicly thank a few who I spent loads of time with:
Terry Olaskey (BCC/ESS) = Thanks for having a high enough opinion of me to invite me along for the ride AND thanks for showing me the proper way to represent GBSSA. You'll always be a good friend.
Bonnie Glover (BDHS) = Bonnie was my guide through the initial learning phase of OFSAA happenings. She showed tremendous patience with me, making sure that I understood the policies and by-laws well enough to be competent. Bonnie is a kind soul and I am still not sure that GBSSA understands how fortunate it was to have her.
Jean Goodrow (STT) = Jean was one of the Female OFSAA reps I worked with. My thanks to her for the incredible patience, generosity, and professionalism she brought to the partnership. I wonder if she can recall those crazy meetings at the Tim Horton's in Elmvale (halfway between Barrie and Port McNicholl) where we poured through a huge stack of eligibility applications that clogged the faxes at our schools ... That was before Google Forms/Sheets.
Dale Huddleston (EOSSA) = Dale did the bulk of his teaching at Ernestown SS near Kingston and we shared duty on a number of OFSAA committees. A consummate story-teller, Dale spread his wisdom far and wide during those social events I talked about before, and since I also have been known to talk a bit, we fit together like "peas and carrots". I learned a lot about a lot from Dale and I am thrilled he includes me in his friend circle.
Tim Lowe (NOSSA) = "Mr North Bay" and I have worked and coached with and against each other for a really long time, sharing duties on Championship Review and Executive Council. Tim is the voice of calm in the sometimes agitated world of OFSAA and we have spent many an evening talking teaching, coaching, sports and life. I am pleased to call him a friend.
Christine Baillie (SOSSA) = Easily one of the most passionate educators I have come to know well, Baillie (as she prefers) is an amazing human being who has set the bar incredibly high when it come to sacrifice for her students, colleagues and association. Unfortunately for all of us, Baillie had a medical issue that forced an early retirement from school and OFSAA. She is a complete sweetheart and a good friend.
Val Hargreaves (ESS) = Val became my OFSAA partner in 2015 when she was arm-twisted into taking over the role when no one else was stepping forward. We were acquaintances prior to this but we became good friends as this"Old Fart" helped her navigate the first few meetings. She has embraced the role and I hope that GBSSA understands how lucky they are.
Peter Kalbfleisch (BCC/ESS) = Honourable mention goes to Peter. We actually never "worked" together for GBSSA but all of those lunch hour chats about transfers and meetings during the three years he served in the role made it seem that way. Peter is a dear friend for a lot of other reasons so sharing a little bit of GBSSA+OFSAA made it all the better.
A final thank you to EVERYONE that I had the privilege of working with during those amazing GBSSA + OFSAA years!
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