Promotion
Manitoban named Coach of the Year

Manitoban named Coach of the Year

Photo courtesy Parkwest Outlaws

The National Football League today named local veterinarian and volunteer coach Bruce Waddell as the 2009 The Home Depot NFL Youth Coach of the Year.

The football program based at Shoal Lake School, in Southwestern Manitoba’s Parkwest School Division (where Waddell is coach) will receive $5,000 in new football equipment as well as a $1,000 The Home Depot gift card for football related renovation projects - such as field repair, fixing bleachers, painting locker rooms, etc. Team Depot, The Home Depot’s associate volunteer force, will also be available to offer hands-on support for the projects.

“Coach Waddell’s commitment to building a football program goes far beyond the win-loss column, and sets an example for other rural coaches across the country,” said Mike Danischewsky, Manager, Football Development, NFL Canada. “His efforts have positively impacted not only young football players, but also the entire communities of Shoal Lake, Russell and Birtle.”

Waddell was selected from a shortlist of ten community and high school coaches from across Canada to receive the honour. In total, more than 500 coaches from across Canada were nominated for the award.

Football players, volunteers, fans, administrators and fellow coaches submitted short essays recognizing the positive impact a youth football coach has had in their community. Nominators were asked to consider how their coach taught respect, safety, motivation, leadership and appreciation for the game of football when drafting their nominations. A panel of journalists, NFL officials and The Home Depot representatives selected the winner.

Elaine Masur, a Shoal Lake football parent, drafted one of the 17 essays submitted on Waddell’s behalf.

“Building a football tradition in a sparsely populated, rural area – where the players drive for miles to get to practice after doing farm chores - is a challenge for any volunteer coach,” said Masur. “Yet Bruce Waddell has taken this on and is unfailingly dedicated to it. Our team – farm boys, town boys and First Nations boys – have all learned about commitment and cooperation from a man who lives what he teaches.”

Waddell has been invited to Quebec City as a guest of the NFL for this year’s Desjardins Vanier Cup celebrations, and will be honoured at the CIS coaches breakfast on Friday, November 27, 2009.

Fellow Manitoban Geordie Wilson, of the Manitoba Minor Football Association’s Charleswood Broncos, and Manotick, Ontario’s Paul Brown, a coach at St. Mark High School (near Ottawa), were named runners-up and will each receive $2,000 in equipment and a $500 The Home Depot gift card.

Over the past eleven years the program has contributed more than $130,000 in equipment and facility upgrades to deserving programs, and put the spotlight on the grassroots-level coaches who are the backbone of football in Canada.

The NFL is a long-time supporter of the game of football at the grassroots level in Canada. Other grassroots initiatives include community ‘Flag League’ and Junior Player Development. For more information visit www.NFLCanada.com.

Founded in 1978, in Atlanta, Georgia, The Home Depot is the world’s largest home improvement retailer, currently operating 2,240 stores, including 179 The Home Depot stores across Canada. In fiscal 2008, The Home Depot had sales of $71.3 billion and earnings from continuing operations of $2.3 billion. The company employs more than 300,000 people, including more than 28,000 Canadians.

Winning Submission:

As the mother of a lad who has played the inaugural three seasons for Parkwest Outlaws in southwest Manitoba, I want to say thanks to Coach Bruce Waddell for his persistence effort and hard work, as well as his consistent encouragement of the youth who play football in this area. I am confident that no other coach across the country has worked harder for better reasons than Coach Waddell and he deserves the The Home Depot NFL Canadian Youth Coach of the Year award. Carrying on the tradition of a sport in a rural sparsely populated area is a challenge for any volunteer coach – getting the tradition and the sport started is much harder. This is what Bruce took on and seems unfalteringly dedicated to. He is always positive, always flexible yet realistic. He has high standards and long term goals with short term achievable expectations. He sets the team members up for success.

Our high school team takes youth from three small schools in the division, many of whom do not know each other at all, and from them he builds a TEAM. Our team consists of farm boys and town boys, First Nations boys living on Reserve communities, academic achievers and special needs students, 5`5`` to 6`4`, 130 to 230 lbs. They work together, encourage and respect each other. From disparate backgrounds, they have become friends. They learn about commitment, cooperation, responsible socializing from a man who lives what he teaches.

I`m relieved to learn this award is not all about stats and wins and losses. The Outlaws strive to win, and we did win 2 games of 7 this season. Each of those wins, the first game and the last game, were a mountain successfully summitted for our boys. The teams we came up against in the Rural Manitoba Football League have had high school football in their communities for a generation or more. Their teams consist of 40 – 60 guys. For two of our three schools, that is more guys than are enrolled in the whole high school. Our team has 23 guys this year. They come to every practice, work hard and have fun doing so. They learned the game and they love it. Some drive miles to get to the practice after doing farm chores, or go home to chores following practice. We lack many of the advantages of “city” teams with big enrolments and long traditions to draw on.

For our team, our communities, and our coaches, this is all about starting something big that is something new. Something for summer and fall to supplement winter hockey. Something any high school student can aspire to. Our communities have lost much in a process of rural depopulation. As a local veterinarian, Coach Waddell is well aware of the sometimes overwhelming depression in his clients and community. By working with community and school leaders, he is not only starting a new sport; he is contributing to a sense of hope and connectedness, a way of networking in the broader community. For his tremendous effort, his positive impact on the lives of players, and his significant contribution to the game of football he deserves this award.

Sincerely, L. Elaine Masur