Merry Christmas One and All

 

2019

2019 Season

Well Folks, the 2019 AA Varsity Season has now come and gone.  Some good story lines when you look back on it.  The Northern Conference had a quality season and word has it, there are plenty of coaches and the teams are getting better with each passing season.  Good to hear this!  The new turf field has been a big plus and there is much interest in the game in and around PG.   The Interior played good football and it looks like South Kamloops is on the rise and ready to challenge some of the perennial powerhouses in that conference.  Vernon won its second consecutive provincial title!  More on this later.  The Lower Mainland/Island managed to overcome some scheduling adversity and there was some great ball played in both conferences.   Well done one and all.

Congratulations to Vernon!  The Panthers demonstrated what a magnificent thing they have going on in the Final game vs Langley.   I have seen a lot of AA champions over the past quarter-century and this crew, well they can count themselves as one of the dynasties that we see every 8-10 years.  They were simply magnificent.  Fine Team, Fine Team....champions amongst historical champions.  Gonna remember these guys for a long time!  At some point, I'd love to interview Coach Smith on his program and what makes em tick!  That would be a good read for all of us!

Langley, you guys surely earned your way to the big dance.  You guys worked long and hard not only this year, but over four years to have the season you just had.  You did it your way and you stuck together all the way.   Much admiration and respect to you all!

Next year, though it is really early, I'd say G.W. Graham gets to wear the "Team To Beat" jacket in AA.  There is going to be a bunch of Whalers, Dukes, Panthers, Maroons, Titans, Bulldogs , Timberwolves and some fighting Pipers trying to tear it off your backs, but its gonna be a tall order to actually do so.

Looking forward to 2020!

2019 AA Varsity Pre-Season Rankings

2019 AA Varsity Pre-Season Rankings 

Well gang, the 2019 season is upon us.   What do I see?  Parity!  Yep, this could be one of the closest, most hard-fought seasons in a decade.   The league has been a bit of a "survivor" series in terms of programs falling by the wayside.  What is left heading in to the season is pretty much stress tested to the max.  It's sad to see things this way, but here we are.

The current state of AA ball has been a long time coming.  In the era 2007-2015 there was much growth and a highly competitive league.  Things began to change big-time however when the league moved to regional "mixed AA/AAA JV conferences.   Small schools just didn't have the numbers on the roster to weather the attrition of playing larger schools as a part of league play.  Getting beat-up week after week wrecked morale and over time teams would fold or roll things into Varsity only.  Once the roots died, so went the whole tree.  An interlocking AA JV schedule this year will likely help remedy this situation for those programs still standing.  We will see if the patient can still benefit from the medicine....we will see.

The present AA Varsity situation is interesting.  Vernon has assumed the mantle of being the dominant AA program in the province.  They have been on the rise since 2014 and have put together a remarkable track record the past five seasons.  Being on top in the end however, and being able to stay there is as tough as it gets.  When the Romans would hold a Triumph, which was basically a parade with the emperor after a successful campaign riding on his chariot with the spoils of war, enemies enslaved in the column, the vanquished leader paraded before him and the crowds a cheering, trumpets blaring, well there was a scene we must remember.  The emperor would be in his chariot and behind him a slave or trusted adviser whispering in his ear, "remember Caesar, all glory is fleeting".  Sometimes that chariot ride and the spectacle can drown out those whispers.  Remember Vernon, the barbarians are always at the gate, hubris is a load and right now, there are some Grizzlies at the gates!

Pre-Season Top Five

1. G.W. Graham Grizzlies

2. Vernon Panthers

3. Langley Saints

4. Ballenas Whalers

5. Holy Cross Crusaders

Honourable Mention: Robert Bateman Timberwolves, Clarence Fulton Maroons, Argyle Pipers, John Barsby Bulldogs, College Heights Cougars

Good Read

High school football's benefits outweigh the risks

Ed Riley

 

Thursday, December 04, 2014

My son’s high school football team finished 1-9 this year, and I wouldn’t be prouder of this team if they had gone undefeated.

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They made a game of it each Friday night, and while they often were outnumbered and overmatched, they never were outplayed. My son and his teammates have learned more about hard work, sportsmanship and resilience on the football field than anywhere else, and these lessons will make them better men.

But as much as I enjoy the tradition of high school football, I worry about its future.

My son’s school has nearly 2,000 students, but his team is lucky to suit up 20 players for a varsity game. There are a lot more young men who want to play, but whose parents won’t let them. Their parents think the risk of brain injury outweighs the benefits of playing.

I understand the concerns and share them, but I have concluded those concerns are misplaced. My children are the most important part of my life. I am a widower, and when my son wanted to play football his freshman year, every mom and my in-laws chastised me for considering it. Even President Obama wondered whether he’d let his theoretical son play.

I’m a physician and medical researcher at Stanford, and I only decided to let my son play after reviewing the medical research.

The study that best elucidates the risk of football-related brain injury comes from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDCP officials studied 3,439 former National Football League players with at least five years of pension-credited playing seasons between 1959 and 1988.

This is arguably the highest-risk group of players available for study. Among these players, the incidence of neurodegenerative disease is three times higher than in the general population. However, the risk of death from neurodegenerative disease was relatively low in both groups: 3 percent in NFL players, and 1 percent in the general population. The risk associated with a long NFL career is not insignificant but remains small.

The high-profile research that is regularly cited as connecting the dots between football-related concussions and dementia in NFL players lacks sufficient data to establish a causal link. Most of the cases considered focus on former NFL players involved in a lot of high-risk behavior other than football, and none of these studies included a control group. Research like this is typically filed away as “interesting, but we need better data.”

The key here is that high school football is not the NFL. The Mayo Clinic found that the risk of high school football players developing degenerative neurological diseases later in life is no greater than if they had been in the band, glee club or choir.

The data suggests that the normal life of adolescents puts them at risk for brain injury all the time. What would be the alternatives to my son playing football? Sports such as soccer, skiing, rock climbing or lacrosse have similar risk profiles to high school football.

My late wife rode horses competitively growing up. As an anesthesiologist at a hospital that treats more horse-related trauma accidents than any other in the country, I’m glad my son went with football.

I believe the benefits of playing high school football are worth the risks. Football is an equal-opportunity sport. All different types of athletes make up a football team, the skills needed don’t require years of practice, and there is no real advantage for kids with private coaches. A healthy, average athlete who shows up to all the team’s practice sessions and attends off-season weight training can usually find a spot on the team.

My son’s teammates are from the whole socioeconomic and racial spectrum. The only reason that his team was able to make a contest out of each game, despite that they had so few players to work with, is that the boys learned how to build on what they had in common instead of focusing on their differences.

As Jack Kemp, the former pro quarterback and congressman, once said, “The huddle is color-blind.” In an increasingly diverse world, opportunities to learn how to work together with a wide range of people who start out on equal footing should not be lightly dismissed.

When I sit in the stands, I worry when my 160-pound son lines up on the front line of the kick return team, but that is only slightly less than I worry when I sit in the passenger seat as he merges onto the highway. Adolescence is a scary time for parents.

To all you parents who are keeping your sons from playing football, I say, “Let them play.” They are just as safe on the football field as they are in most of the other sports and activities we regard as a necessary part of a healthy adolescence. You can save money on expensive club sports and specialty coaches, and your sons will develop skills that will serve them and the rest of us well.

Ed Riley, 56, is the younger brother of Oregon State football coach Mike Riley and is a former quarterback at Whitworth. He has two sons and a daughter. The youngest boy, Noah, is a senior quarterback at Gunn High in Palo Alto, Calif. Ed Riley works as a professor of anesthesia at Stanford University.

Texas Six Man Football Championship Game 100 pts. scored

This would be a great option for BC HS Football in Rural Areas/with programs struggling for numbers!  Looks like so much fun!

https://www.facebook.com/FOXSportsSouthwest/videos/2596584783700205/

SFU Job Postings

Happy New Year from SFU Football!

I wanted to reach out to you and let you know of the following job opportunities with the SFU Football Coaching Staff. We are looking for two younger energetic coaches and that are hungry to get in to the college coaching profession. If you know of anyone or you are interested please let me know! Please reply in a separate email. Here is the official posting with further instruction about how to apply:

Simon Fraser (D-II – Canada): Simon Fraser University Football in Burnaby, BC is looking to fill 2 positions immediately. We are looking for 1 offensive and 1 defensive coach that wants to get into college football. These positions are UNPAID positions with the potential to coach your own group and recruit an area. Looking for the best candidates that can help with the following responsibilities: coaching a position, recruiting, class checks, data entry, video editing, MS Office/Google Docs skills, social media and marketing. In the subject line, please type “Offensive Intern” or “Defensive Intern” Please send your resume & references to tsummers@sfu.ca. Preference will be given to coaches that are local to BC and/or have Canadian  citizenship.

Taylor Summers
Assistant Football Coach - Defensive Coordinator

Team Travel Coordinator
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive | Burnaby, BC | Canada | V5A 1S6
W: 778.782.5069 | C: 425.241.0885

Email: tsummers@sfu.ca Twitter: @CoachTSummers

Merry Christmas One And All!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018!