About

Looking back it should have been very clear to those around me that coaching was in my future. From early years I was obsessed with sport - early on was hockey but that quickly shifted to any and every sport available to me (soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, golf, etc, etc!).

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In those early days whether it was a group of friends at recess, one friend in a driveway or all by myself I was finding and creating ways to be competitive. As young as five I can remember setting up a big game between the Toronto Maple Leafs (my favorite team) and Dallas Stars (my neighbors favorite team) in our driveway. These games included periods, substitutions, penalties and everything we could imagine at the time. At recess as young as grade 4 I can recall organizing anywhere from 5v5 to 8v8 football in the field. Making plays, calls and managing the game as a coach would do.

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Although I was involved and loved so many sports it was at the age of 14 when I found the sport I would excel at as a player. Rugby opened many doors I knew other sports would not for me. I was able to play Provincially and Nationally at the junior levels. It was during these years that it really clicked for me that I may be able to excel even further in coaching than in playing - that was a tough pill to swallow. There were moments in the game that I would be thinking "we should be attacking this way" or "I need to speak with 'Joe', he's clearly in his head about that last error and we need him to move on from that". These things may seem like shared qualities with players (and certainly can be) but it was a clear sign to me that coaching made sense.

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Turns out I was right. I have been able to coach with U18 & U20 National teams. I have developed and implemented performance pathways Provincially and Regionally. I have coached a number of players who have gone on to play Nationally and/or Professionally.