Football is back this weekend at Lord Tweedsmuir.
It’s been 20 years since the football program was inaugurated in 2004. To celebrate the milestone, the school is hosting a pair of games on Saturday, Sept. 7 at the school.
The Junior Varsity game kicks off at noon and the Varsity tilt kicks of at 2:30 p.m. There will be a special ceremony to honour school alumni during halftime of the Varsity game. Both games are being played against the West Kelowna's Mt. Boucherie Bears.
For new Varsity head coach Mike Carter, the Sept. 7 games represent a homecoming of sorts, as he is a graduate of the Tweedy football program and the first former player to be named HC.
He said it meant a “great deal” to him to get the nod.
“This is a program I grew up in, that I truly believe in,” Carter said ahead of the Sept. 7 games. “It's more than just Xs and Os, it gives me a chance to give back to this community and hopefully help inspire another generation of Panthers to grasp the opportunity and lessons that football can bring.”
He added those lessons are life lessons and they provide knowledge for kids that they don’t find in the classroom or outside of school.
“The lessons these sports teach—teamwork, commitment, hard work—are all things that you take with you throughout life,” Carter said. “Being a part of the football team during the formative high school years inspires confidence and gives you a sense of community.”
He said much of who he is as a person is directly related to the lessons he learned on the gridiron—both in practice and in games.
“Lessons from coaches about commitment, effort, opportunity, grit, self-accountability, character, communication, and connection still resonate with me today,” he added. “We are so fortunate to have a football program at our public school that can offer these lessons to our youth.”
Carter (Grad 2014) has a lot of previous experience with the football team. He was both an assistant coach and defensive coordinator before getting the HC spot.
This year's coaching staff includes a wide range of volunteers from parent coaches to alumni. Carter said the volunteers put in an “astounding” amount of time to help the kids on the field.
“People may not realize just how much time goes into coaching at this level, but it is a lot,” he explained. “These are men who book time off work to come to practices and games, schedule work around the football schedule, and schedule vacations to not conflict with the football season.”
For this season, Carter wants to refocus on the building blocks of a great program. For him, that’s more important than what’s noted in the win-loss column.
“I have high expectations for this group going into the season,” he explained. “My expectations fall on things we can control, such as commitment and effort. We have a strong group of players who have a lot of potential if they continue to work hard and stay committed.”
Walter van Halst, a teacher-sponsor for the football program, said naming a former player as head coach is just the latest progression in a school sport that’s grown exponentially over the past two decades.
“Our football program has evolved from what was mostly a school, staff-driven program for most of its history towards an alumni-led program,” explained van Halst. “That process has now culminated in our first former player assuming the reins this season.”
Football was originally started at the school by a group of parents and led by community coach Matt Phillips Sr., among others, before Kurt Thornton, a counsellor at Tweedsmuir, ran the program for more than 10 years.
Other key members over the years have included: teacher and former Edmonton Eskimo and Grey Cup Champion Laurent Deslauriers (head coach), counsellor Jordy Cameron (offensive coordinator), Mike Biggin (JV head coach), and Brien Gemmell—Tweedsmuir athletic director and Grade 8 football coach. Gemmell led the Grade 8s to several provincial championships. They earned their first Grade 8 title in 2009 and Carter was a member of that championship sqaud.
“Over the first 19 years the program has produced a total of six CFL players,” van Halst noted, “three of whom are helping out as alumni coaches this season, including Adam Berger, Kyle Miller and our newest addition, former BC Lion Jamel Lyles, who holds the school rushing record.”
While a student at Tweedy, Carter played both rugby and football.
“He was a very good, hard-working and completely unselfish player in both sports,” said van Halst. “Coach Carter—mentored both as a player by Thornton, Deslauriers, Cameron, and Biggin and later as a coach by Nick Kawaza and Bob Swing—is uniquely positioned to build on all the traditions of the Tweedsmuir football program as it begins its third decade.”
