Football-less futures for two more schools?
There was some surprise expressed the other day when it was reported that Westdale might not have a high school football team in the fall. Longtime coach Dave Walters announced he was stepping away to spend some time with his wife and three kids, and there was nobody raising his or her hand to take over. Not yet, anyway.
So after 80-something years and numerous championships, the school that has often been a city powerhouse and the launching pad for a number of pro and college careers appears headed toward a football-less future.
Turns out it might be just the start.
For the past five years, Dan Johnston has been the football coach at Sherwood. His two sons have now graduated and he’s just taken a new job that requires him to work different hours. As a result, he has no choice but to step aside.
Is there anyone lined up to take his spot this fall? “As far as I know, no,” he says. And at Waterdown, Larry Timms has been the assistant or head coach for 23 years. But when the longtime hockey coach retired, he took over that program. Last year, he managed to run both teams, but no longer.
“I just need a change,” he says. “I’m exhausted.”
So he’s out as football coach. Despite the school’s best efforts to find someone to take over, to the best of his knowledge there’s nobody in place for the coming season.
That means three of the public board’s traditional Division I schools could well be without a team when the kids return to class in September, leaving just five of Hamilton’s biggest public schools with football.
This would be a huge blow to the sport in this city. The guy in charge of recruiting for McMaster says fewer high school teams mean fewer kids playing, which means a smaller pool to find future university stars. The Marauders had 23 players from Hamilton listed on its roster last season, including two from Westdale and one from Sherwood. A few other players from these three high schools are dotted around university rosters throughout Ontario.
“When schools start not having football teams, sure it’s concerning,” Frank Gesztesi says.
The obvious answer to the conundrum is to simply find somebody at each school — or someone who’s not a teacher but is interested in football — who’s willing to take over and keep everything rolling along. But that’s not as easy as it sounds.
Walters says he’s been putting in 30-40 volunteer hours a week for two decades. Timms says 30 hours a week is the bare minimum he’s invested. Johnston says that’s about right for him, too.
Since coaches have to prepare and run practices, design plays, coach games, deal with players, break down game film, arrange transportation, book fields and do everything else, it’s time-consuming. Plus, by the 2020 season, every coach on the field — head coaches and assistant coaches and anyone else in involved in instruction in any way — will have to be certified in Safe Contact, Football Canada’s proper tackling and blocking initiative.
That certification is a great idea and adds to the safety level of the game. It just demands even more commitment and more time from those in charge.
Because of all this, Johnston says he’s worried about where high school football in the city is headed.
“Oh, I’ve been worried for a couple years now,” he says.
The suggestion that someone could sign on as coach but not invest as much time as his or her predecessors just to keep a team going likely wouldn’t fly, either. If a coach doesn’t put in the time to prepare, the team almost certainly wouldn’t be competitive.
If that’s the case, few students will want to play because, really, who wants to show up day after day to put their body on the line only to lose all the time? All is not lost just yet, mind you. Scheduling for the fall season begins soon so schools have until next Friday to announce whether they’ll be fielding a team. However, if there’s still some hope a coach could be found, the deadline could be extended for a few weeks, meaning there’s still a chance the programs could be salvaged.
If not, the high school football landscape in the city will look very, very different come September.
sradley@thespec.com 905-526-2440 | @radleyatthespec Spectator columnist Scott Radley hosts The Scott Radley Show weeknights from 7-9 on 900CHML