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Some Very Big Shoes


My high school coach, Dave Nicholls, was a major influence in my life – partly for what he did for me

when I was an athlete at Queen Elizabeth High School, and partly for how he affected me after he

passed away. When I was in second year university, Dave, age 49, died of a brain aneurism. We had

been close, and it was a massive blow to me. I was a pallbearer at his funeral, and shortly thereafter I

found myself coaching the high school team, trying to fill some very big shoes. I quickly found that I

loved working with student-athletes, and that using my knowledge of the sport as a platform to teach

was very rewarding. At the time however, there were six full-time coaching positions in BC, 2 at each of

UVic, SFU and UBC. Within a couple of years that number was reduced to three. The prospect of

making a career out of coaching track and field wasn’t good, and so I did what many aspiring coaches do – I became a teacher so that I could feed my coaching addiction after school, as a volunteer.

While I waited for one of the coveted coaching positions to become available, I often reflected on my

predicament. It seemed to me that many of my peers valued the coaches in their lives as much as they

did their good teachers. Part of the reason for this was the relational nature of the work – coaching

wasn’t just about imparting knowledge, but also about getting to know and care about the student-

athlete outside the field of play. Yet very few professional coaching positions existed. Our coaches

taught us to be gracious in defeat and humble in victory. We learned that there is a time to have fun

and a time to get down to work. Former coaches get invited to weddings. They are called upon years

after careers have ended to give mentoring advice. Coaching is a high calling.

The idea of the Thunderbirds Coaches Tribute is twofold. Firstly, we feel it is important to, as a

collective, honor those who built the UBC Cross Country and Track and Field programs. We stand on the

shoulders of giants, and Thursday, January 12th will be an opportunity for the Thunderbird community to

recognize that. Across eras and generations, we have something in common – the incredible influence

of the Head Coach of UBC Cross Country and Track and Field on our lives. Marek Jedrzejek, Carmyn

James, Thelma Wright, Diane Clement and Doug Clement will all be here and would love to see their

former athletes! Secondly, knowing how important coaching has been to us, we want to start by

doubling the size of the full time coaching staff – from one to two. To truly coach well, we need to

improve the coach-athlete ratio and simultaneously spread the administrative load. If we can do this,

we can continue to impact future Thunderbirds in the same way that each of you were influenced. $90

from each ticket will go into a fund to support the hiring of a new coach.

Your call-to-action is to click on the link below to purchase a ticket to this great event. Can’t make it?

Perhaps you’d consider buying a plate for a current athlete – they’d get a chance to understand the

history of the program and you receive a tax receipt! We’d love to see you on January 12th, but equally

we hope that, in some way, you are able to support the event.

Laurier Primeau

Head Coach, UBC Cross Country and Track and Field


 

 

A non-profit society committed to supporting UBC Track & Field's student-athletes, alumni, and coaches. We aim to facilitate their pursuit of excellence by providing them with various forms of lifeong support.

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