A Bear hug for lifetime achievement
FOOTBALL: Bob Ackles award recipient Beaton still prowling the sideline with volunteer job at Holy Cross
Any pigskin historian who sorts through the evidence can see that coach Chris (Bear) Beaton is wrong about his place in history.
A many layered but humble man, the former longtime head coach at Simon Fraser University was presented with the Bob Ackles Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent Orange Helmet Awards dinner sponsored by the B.C. Lions.
It was something of an embarrassment for the noble Bear, who is gathering accolades late in his coaching life. In October, Beaton was named to the B.C. Football Hall of Fame in the builder category.
That time, though, he had company — 11 other individuals and two teams joined him in the career celebration.
In this latest recognition of his contribution to developmental football in the province, he was singled out — honoured, yes, but stuck on the horns of a worthiness dilemma.
In a gracious acceptance speech, Beaton placed himself at the opposite end among past recipients he considers immortals, among them Cal Murphy, Frank Smith, Lorne Davis and the late Ackles himself, the man who rose from water boy to team president of the B.C. Lions.
“Am I deserving of this?” Beaton said. “I just don’t feel I deserve to be with some of these people. Pretty lofty company. But this is truly an honour. There are some great people on that list.”
Now 70, the Bear is still prowling the sidelines and no job is unworthy of his consideration. That’s why he’ll be joining Holy Cross secondary this year, working as a volunteer assistant under Crusaders head coach Conrad Deugau, a former Clan linebacker/defensive lineman Beaton coached at SFU (1999-2004). Padded practices can begin in late May.
“I can’t let it go,” Beaton said. “I have to look at video. I love meetings, going over things, making sure we’re prepared. This is why I’ve been very impressed with Conrad. He does all those things. He doesn’t need any prompting from me.”
Longevity is his legacy — 23 seasons as the head coach at Simon Fraser, nine more as an assistant at the University of B.C., which included a Vanier Cup national championship with Frank Smith in 1982.
As a high school student at Vancouver College in the 1960s, Beaton played for Murphy, who went on to coach in the U.S. college ranks and later spent 24 seasons in the CFL as a coach and general manager.
After high school graduation, Beaton was captain of Simon Fraser’s original football team in 1965 and played in the first Shrum Bowl two years later, when SFU defeated UBC 32-13 at Empire Stadium in the first football game played between the crosstown rivals.
Following graduation, Beaton became a graduate assistant coach at SFU in 1969 before he returned to Vancouver College to become head coach for three seasons.
From 1973 to 2011, he coached exclusively in the university ranks. But irrespective of the relative importance football plays in high schools, he has kept his hand in the game at Hugh Boyd (Richmond), Earl Marriott (Surrey) and now Holy Cross, a Catholic private school of 800 students in Surrey trying to re-establish itself as a football power.
“As a young coach (35), I’ve read all the books, done all the clinics, watched all the videos, but I don’t have the wealth of experience that Bear has,” Deugau said.
“I feel like I’m a kid again, back in school, taking what Chris has done in the past and applying it to what we want to do. The man is super humble. I had fun playing under him at SFU. We hope to give our kids the same experience.”
Generations ago, when Beaton played and then coached at Vancouver College, the student body — all male — was bound together in a way that most of today’s diverse student bodies couldn’t conceive.
Football was important as a unifier for the school and a coach could be a gigantic personage in that sort of place.
Today, when students don’t bother to show up for practice, find ways to excuse themselves or aren’t really interested in going out for football, the volunteer coach admits he’s had to go through an adjustment. But it still won’t keep him from coaching.
“It fills the fall. It’s something I love to do,” Beaton said. “I love the practices, I love the teaching. But it’s had its ups and downs. It’s just that my expectations are so high. I’ve had my problems. The student has changed. I’ve had a real tough time with the commitment of high school athletes. I get disappointed easily.”
Still, he continues to be needed by motivated players who respond to his coaching and young coaches who marvel at his preparation. “Chris is organized, right down to the T,” Deugau said.
“I feel invigorated by the way he (Deugau) runs his program,” Beaton added. “I’m sort of excited. There’s a little more of an attitude in the hallways (at Holy Cross) that football is growing and important.”
With spring practice ahead, the coach whose antiquity still makes him a man of consequence is bearing down on his next adventure.